I have said from the beginning that one wouldn’t do this if they didn’t love it. If you didn’t, no amount of money would be worth the work. For the most part, I still believe that. I have met physicians that I thought must live in agony because they couldn’t possibly like what they do, but they are rare. So let’s take a look at what a career in medicine might cost. This is a very conservative survey.
Tuition
Baylor College of Medicine
Texas resident $24,000/yr
Non-resident $37,000
University of Texas Medical Schools
Texas resident $20,000/yr
Non-resident $34,000
University of Kansas Medical College
Kansas resident $37,000/yr
Non-resident $66,000
AT Still School of Osteopathic Medicine, Kirksville
Missouri resident $51,000/yr
Non-resident $51,000
University of Florida College of Medicine
Fl resident $33,000/yr
Non-resident $45,000
Applications usually run $50-200.
Fees (and there are always fees) are all over the place.
Books, supplies. $5,000-10,000.
Room and board. This is kind of relative. You’d have to have room and board regardless of what you were doing so it isn’t really a medical school expense.
Lost wages. $225,000
Testing. $1,300 for the US Medical Licensing exam. Schools vary as to testing through out the 4 years.
Loan debt service. A $300,000 loan at 5.25% for 30 years would require $1,657/month payments and $596,380 total repaid in 360 payments.
So, using middle of the road numbers from above, your looking at it costing you $522,300 to go to medical school. And, I’ve not mentioned the loss of a life. You know what I mean; missed holidays, weddings, vacations, time not spent with kids, hobbies not explored, lost or missed love.
So, what do you think? Worth it?
Uncle Dave
Acknowledgements
This post was prompted by discussions with Rae of sunshine.
Weary
Is Medical School Worth It Financially? Retrieved 9/14/18. https://www.bestmedicaldegrees.com/is-medical-school-worth-it-financially/
Kaplan: What is the Real Cost of Medical School? Retrieved 9/14/18
https://www.kaptest.com/study/mcat/whats-the-real-cost-of-medical-school/