Medical School in The United States - Indebtedness of Medical Graduates

Indebtedness of Medical Graduates

Unlike many other countries, U.S. medical students finance their education with personal debt. In 1992, the average debt of a medical doctor after residency, for those graduating with debt, was $25,000. For the Class of 2009, the average debt of a medical student is $157,990, with 25.1% of students having debt in excess of $200,000 (prior to residency). For the past decade, tuition prices have increased 5-6% each year- it is not clear what has caused these increases.

Medical schools do not have accounting transparency, so it is difficult to pin-point the root cause of tuition increases. Medical education is still based on the 2 + 2 model posited by the 100 year old Flexner report.

A current economic theory suggests that increasing borrowing limits have been the cause of the increased tuition. As medical students are allowed to borrow more, medical schools raise tuition prices to maximally increase revenue. Studies show that schools raise prices 97 cents for each one dollar increase in borrowing capacity.

There is no consensus on whether the level of debt carried by medical students has a strong effect on their choice of medical specialty. Dr. Herbert Pardes and others have suggested that medical school debt has been a direct cause of the US primary care shortage. Some research suggests that for a sub-set of debt sensitive medical students, this is certainly the case. For most students, debt is but one consideration in choosing a residency. Whatever the cause may be, the 2008 Family Medicine Residency match filled only 44% of available slots with US graduates, down from the 1984 level of 98%.