Medical school students are more concerned about student loan debt and the cost of medical school than were their peers 5 years ago, according to a survey by the medical software company Epocrates.
A total of 30% of the more than 1,000 students responding to this year’s survey said that paying off their student loans was their biggest concern, as compared with 17% in 2007.
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A new survey shows that today’s med school students are more concerned about student loan debt and the cost of medical school than their peers 5 years ago.
"Today, a lot of us go into medical [school] knowing that it might not pay off, especially with all the student loans," said Milla Kviatkovsky, a third-year student of osteopathic medicine at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at a briefing on the survey.
Even with their concerns about financing their education, more medical students in 2012 are choosing the relatively lower-paying field of primary care. More than 80% of survey respondents said they were concerned about the current shortage of primary care physicians; that concern led a total of 32% combined to express interest in primary care, pediatrics and ob.gyn. as future specialties.
"Attacking that shortage is going to require some sort of mechanism to make it so that the student loan isn’t so much of a concern for students," Ms. Kviatkovsky added.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, young doctors face an average of $158,000 in debt, with more than 80% graduating with at least $100,000 in debt.
When it comes to practice environment, more students are leaning toward hospital-based employment (40%) rather than group (21%) or solo (6%) practice. Students said their top reasons for preferring hospital employment were concerns about work/life balance, malpractice and administrative issues, and lack of training in practice management.
This survey – the seventh survey of its kind – is a part of Epocrates’ annual efforts to track trends among medical students.