Loans for Residents

Finally.  Your husband has graduated from medical school and now he is going to have a real salary!  The average resident salary is sounding pretty good at this point, and you are making plans to buy new furniture and rent a cute little house.  But then you go into some credit card debt for all of those residency interviews.  And then the move (or two!) costs more than you ever expected.  You have another baby, move to a city with higher cost of living, start paying back those pesky loans, have to buy even more text books and medical equipment.  Suddenly you find yourself in the red and realize there will be no new couch, even worse you are wondering how you will make rent this month. Now what?

Fortunately, there are a few options for residents in regards to getting loans if needed including:

1)    Residency and Relocation Loan

What it is: The Medical Residency & Relocation Loan finances expenses associated with finding a residency, including travel to interviews and relocation costs which are not covered by federal student loan programs.

Repayment: Can be deferred until up to 3 years after graduation

How Much: Students can borrow from $1,000 up to $20,000, depending on the lender

Who Can Get It: 4^th year medical students

Where to Get it: Sallie Mae, 53 Education Lending, Graduate Leverage, Wells Fargo

2)    Private Residency Loans

      What it is: A way to pay for any expenses related to residency       

      Repayment: Can be deferred until up to 6 months after completion of residency.  Interest only repayments are also available up until the 2^nd year in practice, depending on the lender

      How Much: Residents can borrow $5,000 up to $75,000, depending on the lender and the where you are in your training

      Who Can Get It: 4^th year medical students, medical residents

      Where to get it: PNC On Campus, Sun Trust, also contact your local bank to find out other personal loan options

Obviously going into more debt is not desirable and your options should be weighed carefully before deciding to take out one of these loans.  Read the fine print, realize that the interest rates may be high and you may have to make payments on interest while you are still in training. 

Did you and your spouse take out one of these types of loans?  What was your experience?  Did you find other ways to finance your residency related expenses?

By Melissa Stringham

Tax Advice for Minimizing Loan Repayment Amount?

My husband is graduating in May and will begin residency...which also means loan repayment begins. Does anyone have any advice of filing our taxes this year to minimize the monthly repayment amount? Or any financial advice on this in general? We have friends who graduated last year and filed married jointly and wished they hadn't because it made their med school loan repayment amount astronomical.

Thank you in advance!

3 weeks MSIV's :)

Financial Resource

Physicians in Training just posted about a great resource on managing debt from medical school. It's called FIRST- Financial Information, Resources, Services, and Tools. They have information for both medical students and residents. I've just skimmed it, but it looks like a good source of information!

Fellowship Match Day

It's been a very interesting year for us...because all of the changes that Jason and I (Avi aka Doc's Girl) talked about happening when we first started dating...are right around the corner! :)

I know that it's hard to imagine what lies in store for our partners when they are done with residency, but this is a fun website to see what job openings there are around the country. It's one of the few websites where you don't have to register to view them. :o)

Currently, Jason and I are waiting for fellowship match day on May 1st, where we will learn where we are going to end up for his fellowship. His fellowship will start in August of 2010 and is 1 year long. Out of all of the choices that he had, we're really hoping on staying here in Michigan for two main reasons:

1. It allows me to comfortably finish my bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology instead of having to take 20 credits per semester in order to finish or transferring to another university...if we have to move.

2. We can add another year of equity to our place and not have to go through the nightmare of selling it, moving, finding a new place, etc. When Jason is done with everything, we'd be more comfortable taking a hit on our place to sell it as opposed to now when we are strapped for cash.

Jason added his resume to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and he is already getting calls from places around the country, desperate for someone of his future speciality. (Some of these recruiters are called "headhunters." Once we see how credible they are in about a year or so, when we'll seriously consider these offers, I will definitely post about Jason's experience with them for everyone to read. By the way, if anyone has any experience with this, please write about it! :-D) It's kind of neat because it seems like he has gotten a lot of initial interest already since his speciality is desperately needed everywhere. We'll basically have our pick of where we want to end up in the country, all with some nice perks. Some places are offering loan forgiveness, bonuses...and even matching his fellowship salary. :)

So, as many of you know, both of my parents are deceased...and I am extremely blessed to have a fabulous relationship with Jason's parents. In fact, his mother and I spoke for almost 2 hours on the phone yesterday. :) Ironically, Jason and I share a lot of the same values even with growing up in different environments. I came from a pretty traditional Indian family...and he grew up in a small town in Ohio. The topic of job offers came up last night with Jason's mom and it was a pretty serious discussion between her and I. (A very good one, by the way, where she dropped a ton of hints about wanting to spend time with her future grandchildren. :-P)

At this point in time, Jason and I are entertaining the idea of moving to a warmer climate for his future job and he has said that his parents stated that they'll move where ever we go.

However...the truth of the matter is that I think Jason forgets that his parents are quite established where they are. :o) They love their community...they have close friends...but, they also miss their ONLY son who has been in a different state since residency. The idea of moving to a warmer climate is nice...but, the reality of the situation is that I want Jason's parents around as much as possible...especially when I think about our future children. Asking his parents to pack up and move from an area where they have been their entire lives (and are happy with) just seems like a bit much...

My siblings and I always felt like we missed out on the joys of having grandparents close to you. My family moved here from India and, when my grandparents came to live with us here in the United States many years later, it was just plain awkward. It was hard to communicate with them, they had a ton of health problems...and, all in all, there was just a big difference in cultural views. (For example, my grandfather used to get annoyed at me that I didn't serve all of my friends tea/food EVERY time that they came over to hang out. It was hard to explain to him that, sometimes in the US, people just come over to hang out... He just thought I was a bad hostess and I'm actually an excellent hostess, by the way! :-P)

Jason will probably start interviewing for future jobs during his fellowship...so, we still have some time to think about things. But, the good thing is that I know that Jason will probably realize on his own as time goes by that it's not all about the money...or the weather... I know this will happen because we're not about having a big home, expensive cars, or even taking exotic vacations. At the end of the day, we're all about the little things in life, living a comfortable life...and enjoying the important things like time spent with the ones you love. :) (On a side note--one of things Jason and I bonded on initially was the fact that he almost lost his father about a year before we met. His father is now in better health and progressing wonderfully...)

We're also both aware that his parents are older (in their 60s)...and we want to cherish all of the time that we have with them... As sad as it is to admit, I really just don't want to live far from them... I'm just praying that a miraculous offer in Ohio pops up in about a year. :)

Anyways...10 more days to go until Match Day. (Note: Depending on specialties, fellowship match day is different for everyone.) Even though there is a 99.9% chance that we are staying in Michigan...I just can't seem to relax until we get an official answer, you know? Our lives seem to contain many stories of how things can/will go opposite to what we plan for. :-P

The suspense is just killing me....!!!! :)

Loan Repayment

Okay so I like to obsess and worry and I am seriously trying to figure out this loan repayment stuff (I know I only have a year - right?) So I admit I'm crazy, but I posted about how I think used to work out and how I think it works out right now - but I am pretty sure I am possibly way off.... if you ladies don't mind would you please stop by my post and give me some feedback so I can put things together? Thanks in advance!

Physician Mortgage Loans go bye-bye tomorrow

Just a friendly warning that the Bank of America physician mortgage loan program (the one that ignores our obscene debt to income ratio) is being phased out April 1st. This leaves one day to get a contract on new home OR:

Here's the official scoop from the horse's mouth -

"Stacie, I wanted to touch base with you regarding the Bank of America Doctor loan. We have been advised that affective April 1st, 2009 we will not longer be able to offer this program. However, I wanted to make you aware that we do have a "Buyer Ready Lock" program which allows you to lock your rate now for 30 days. During this period you can continue to look for a home and as long as we add a property to your file in 30 days then the rate you lock in at will be preserved. You have an additional 45 days from the day we add a property to your file and lock your rate to close on your home. Example: If you Buyer Ready locked on March 30th; you would have until April 28th to find a home. Once you had the home under contract you would have an additional 45 days to close. This means you could stretch this lock until around June 12th at the most.

If you would like to consider this option, please let me know as soon as possible. I only have until Tuesday evening (March 31) to board your loan to guarantee the Buyer Ready lock option. It’s at this time we will also collect part of your application fee ($75) which, of course, will be credited to you when we collect the rest of the application fee after you find a home and we are ready to order the property appraisal. I regret this pending policy change, but I am doing my best to insure you are able to take advantage of this program while it lasts. Thanks again!"

Here's who you can contact for this loan:
David Benson
Physician Loan Specialist
Bank of America Mortgage
(336) 714-5806 (direct)
(866) 517-2217 (fax)
william.d.benson@bankofamerica.com

I ran off the Tennessee this weekend and managed to get a signed contract on a home TODAY and got in the program by the skin of my teeth, but their is still hope with the "buyer ready program" Good luck y'all!
Stacie