Dell or Mac?

    

• Processor: Intel i7 (2.80GHz)
• RAM: 8 GB
• Hard Drive: 128 GB SSD
• LCD Screen: 14"
• Includes: 1TB External Hard Drive for backups, Wireless Optical Mouse
• 
  

•  
• 
  
• Processor: Intel i7 Dual Core (2.8GHz)
• RAM: 8 GB
• Hard Drive: 256 GB SSD
• LCD Screen: 13"
• Includes: 1TB External Hard Drive for backups, Magic Mouse, MiniVGA Adpater, Windows 7 Pro

I have to choose a computer for school. I don't know anything about computers, but, thank goodness, the IT department has provided only four choices (well, and the IPad pilot program) - two different Dells and two different MacBook Pros, where the difference appears to only be screen size.

I will definitely be going with either the smaller Dell or the smaller Macbook. I don't want to carry anything heavy around (although I guess a few ounces is not that big of a difference). At home, though, I will have a big monitor, so screen size is not that big of a difference.

What I am having a hard time deciding is whether to go with the Dell, which has a better warranty package, or with the Apple, which has better aesthetic qualities. Of course, another issue is cost. The Apple product is more than $1000 dollars more expensive. But given that I'm already borrowing so much, what's another grand?

Can anyone with computer knowledge recommend which laptop you think is the better fit for a medical student? Or should I just ignore computers altogether and sign up for the IPad pilot program?

Signing my life away

I have finally buckled down and completed all of my financial aid paperwork. I have officially accumulated $77,500 dollars worth of debt. I expect to be borrowing on average $80,000 dollars per year for my four years of medical school for a grand total of $320,000.

With so much money owed, I knew no amount of complaining could help.

I looked into repayment plans (I hope this will be useful to some readers out there as well!). With a good plan and good luck, hopefully I won't be spending the rest of my life shackled to the cost of my education.

                                           

The Good News: 

Income Based Repayment (IBR). The IBR is for people with loans substantially larger than their income - in other words, one needs to demonstrate a partial financial hardship. Usually, one would expect to pay only about 10-15% of their income (minus 150% of the poverty line). For a family of just me, makng about $50,000 a year during my residency years, I would only be expected to pay about $400 dollars every month. This is much more manageable than the 10 year repayment plan (the standard). For the first few years of my career, this is the only viable option given the amount of debt that I will have. 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). For doctors, this can be an amazing plan. After 120 on-time payments (10 years), whatever amount of money you still owe will be forgiven and the amount forgiven will not even be taxed! There are some caveats:

• You must work in a public service job (non-profit or government organization). Most hospitals qualify as an acceptable employer (62% are non-profit and 20% are government hospitals). 
• You must be working full time in the public service job during repayment, when you're applying, and when you receive forgiveness. This means there's no skimping out. You have to work the full ten years (at least) in providing a public service. 
• It's all or nothing. Just because you paid 119 payments doesn't mean you're entitled to most of the forgiveness. You have to satisfy EVERY portion of every requirement for the government to accept your application.

The Bad News: 

Uncertainty. The government does not have any assurances that the PSLF program exist indefinitely. Like any bill, it will come under scrutiny and review. When it does, who is to say that it will remain in its current form? Mark Kantrowitz wrote an article denouncing the use of PSLF by doctors, who he argues only have short terms of low income (residency years only). Who knows if reform is on its way to restrict the use of this forgiveness program? 

Either way, I have to borrow what I have to borrow. A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Furnishing pain of my first apartment

I went apartment hunting in April and have seen my apartment space for a total of maybe three minutes. I think I have a general gist of how big the place is, but really I probably have no idea. No matter the size, I'd like to have a modern interior. I think it would contrast well with the old and faded feel of the building - a building so old I actually had to sign a lead poisoning disclaimer.

The benefit of modern designs are the clean lines and the appreciation for simplicity. Simplicity, of course, equaling fewer pieces of furniture and so lower costs.

I'd like to imagine that my affordable apartment will look like this:

The perfectly beautiful and fantastical abode of a starving med student

But...my place will most likely just look like this: 

Choosing between fed and fasted, I chose fed

Of course, my walls will have a bit more color than that pictured above. One of my wonderful roommates is a CRAZY artist - "crazy" taking on the meaning of "good" in this context.

Trying to keep the balance between affordable and quality is really tough on a shoestring budget. However, if you're willing to take the time to look online and really REALLY search, there are a lot of cool stuff that you can find. Stores like Walmart and Target have affordable furniture, but the downside is the delivery choices are not so great. Shipping to store is usually free, but with large pieces of furniture, you might be better off just paying the shipping fee. The same is true for looking on Craigslist (also, beware of who you buy from. Lifetime has scared me for life with The Craigslist Killer). 

So far, we've decided on a futon and a set of bookshelves and have not yet picked a color for the futon. Help us decide! Black, grey or red?                                                     

Introducing me and all of my financial trouble

Hi! Welcome to my blog! I look forward to updating you about my experiences as I begin my career as a medical student at Case Western Reserve University. I am so excited to be heading into the field of medicine and I want to share all of the key moments in my path towards becoming a doctor. Writing this blog will be my way of keeping friends updated and helping aspiring medical students figure out their own path towards their MD degree.

The first thing you need to know about the path towards becoming a doctor is the financial hole you're about to jump into. On average, medical students graduate with $141,132 in debt. That is A LOT of money...and we're only talking about averages. Half of students have debts worth more than the mortgage on a small house. With the high interest rates (6.8% for Federal Stafford loans and 7.9% for Grad PLUS loans), medical students are looking at years of indebtedness. My current medical school costs are going to put me at more than DOUBLE the national average (I'm not even counting the interest rate here!) when I graduate.

These large figures can be very daunting when you first look at them. I was terrified, but I am a clear headed physician-to-be!! So I made a list of possible ways to finance my education:

1.) Write a letter to Mitt Romney/President Obama and ask for money in return for my political support.
2.) Pay the school in Confederate dollars.
3.) Rob a bank, because hey, even George Clooney did it.

I'm just going to disarm you with my good looks and then help myself to some spending money.

But when the shock was replaced by panic, I turned to Google - the one who has an answer to everything. There is a wealth of resources online and in every financial aid office. One of the best tools that I found online was the AAMC financial aid calculator that is a part of their whole website of information and tools (FIRST). For those of us who are not mathematically or financially inclined, the calculator lets you plug in numbers and does all of the calculations for you. It even tells you the amount of money the government is likely to forgive if you follow through on different forgiveness plans (Ex: Public Service Loan Forgiveness - a topic I will cover in another post). The website also provides a lot of guidance for figuring out how much you should take in loans and how to pay it all back when you graduate.

My financial aid counselor was also really welcoming and ready to help. I scheduled an appointment with her on the phone and she answered all one thousand of my questions. A lot of times, you can find the answer you need online, but for the questions that are specific only to you, there is no better resource than a financial aid officer. They deal with this kind of information day in and day out, so they are armed to the teeth with relevant information. Even better, they are particularly knowledgeable about your specific school. Woohoo!

So while I am still very intimidated by the idea of a six-figure loan, I am at least aware of my options. Despite all of this debt, I am very certain that a career in medicine and my education is exactly what I want. I can't wait to start school!

P.S. If any rich millionaires or billionaires are reading this blog, please feel free to contribute to my education fund. I might be the doctor to save your life one day!