Money

Learn how to manage your money as a student and healthcare provider with our articles on student loans, budgeting, insurance, finding a job, investing, and other financial topics.

Med Student Resources: Q&A With Mr. Rich Ronnestad, Director of Financial Education

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Chris Diem

Ask any doctor, in any specialty and of any age, and they will remember their training in medical school. It is full of learning, new experiences, new friends, and major strides in both personal and professional development. With so many changes, dozens of obstacles in each student’s life must be confronted and overcome. Fortunately, medical schools have extraordinary people who devote their time and talent to guiding and supporting medical students through their four years. This column interviews these people at medical schools around the country to help students learn more about the resources they have available during their years in school.

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How to Choose the Best Income Driven Repayment Plan

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income driven repayment

If you are having difficulty making your federal student loan payments, the worst thing you can do is ignore the problem. Help is available. For many borrowers, payments may be reduced under one of the Income Driven Repayment Plans (IDR Plans) offered by the Department of Education. The lower your income, the lower your payments will be.

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Med Student Parents, Part 2 | Plan for Debt but Don’t Worry

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This time, a mom’s point of view.

On our last show, we fielded a question from Courtney who wants to go to med school but is worried about being a mom and a med student. We got one dad’s perspective then, and now it’s time for mom. Dr. Maya Lopez (CCOM MD ’04) was another non-trad entering school with a supportive husband and a few bundles of joy. She told Eric Schnieders, Tucker Dangremond, and Sanjeeva Weerasinghe how she dove headlong into med school, how she and her husband (along with a village) made parenting and med school work for them.

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Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 5

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Read  about steps 1 and 2 in Part 1 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 3 and 4 in Part 2 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 5 and 6 in Part 3 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 7 and 8 in Part 4 of this series  here.
One day in the future, all your work will have paid off: You’ll have finished your job interviews and you will be fielding job offers. OK, so it’s a ways away in the future. But it’s valuable to understand the process now; you can spend your time focusing on opportunities that are a true fit for your interests and values. This laser focus on what you want and what you’re good at will mean that the job offers coming your way will be good fits for you. Then, the challenge is simply choosing one.

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Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 4

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Read  about steps 1 and 2 in Part 1 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 3 and 4 in Part 2 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 5 and 6 in Part 3 of this series  here.
As a medical student, you’re likely very focused on listening to lectures and passing exams. Good! But by having an awareness of what the next steps in your professional journey are—specifically, pursuing and landing job opportunities—you will be well-prepared and in a position to cherry pick your job opportunities.

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How The Timing of your Doctor Job Search Could Lead to a Financial Windfall

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You most likely believe the best time to start your medical job search is late autumn of the final year of training. That’s the standard advice, but it may not be the best for you. First, you will be just one of many job-applicants fighting for limited openings. Secondly, you will not have adequate time for preparation—you need your market value report and negotiation skills training completed before you start the process. In the rush to prepare for board exams, move, find a place to live, and find a job all at the same time you may have to skip the prep work and might not be able to bargain for the best deal.

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Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 3

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Read  about steps 1 and 2 in Part 1 of this series  here.
Read  about steps 3 and 4 in Part 2 of this series  here.
You likely won’t start applying for jobs in earnest until you are a resident. But if you begin preparing for your job search while you are in medical school, you will have a competitive advantage when it’s time to start applying.

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Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 2

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Read  about steps 1 and 2 in Part 1 of this series  here.
Right now, your number one priority is, very understandably, focusing on your medical school workload. Still, it’s never too early to start thinking about your job search. There are easy steps you can take now that will prepare you for your job search and give you a competitive advantage when it’s time to start applying. 

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Financial Literacy for the Newly Minted Physician Part II: Introduction to Do-It-Yourself Investing

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In our last installment, we recognized the value of money as a means of allotting your time in accordance with your values; identified financial independence for physicians as a goal worth pursuing from the earliest stages of your medical training; and discussed poor decisions that physicians commonly make, with the hope that we might tame the impulse to buy a new car or an irrationally expensive home fresh out of med school or residency.

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Jump Starting Your Job Search While In Medical School: Part 1

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When you are in medical school, your job search may feel like a project that’s light years away. While it’s true that your number one priority is succeeding in medical school, it’s a good investment of your time to get educated about what your job search will look like. If you’re knowledgeable about what the job search process is, you can take small, but meaningful steps now, like cultivating great relationships with potential references, attending conferences, and gaining clarity around what kind of work environment is a match for your preferences and goals. Consider these steps to jump start your job search while in medical school, and integrate these steps into your process as you learn and prepare for your career.

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