One Doctor's debt, a cautionary tale

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Specializes in Med-Surg/home health/pacu/cardiac icu.

This is sad, she was smart enough to be a Dr. but not smart enough to figure out student loans. She shouldn't have borrowed that much and she should have made sure she had a fixed rate instead of a variable rate. She should have tried to make her payments without going into default and getting such almost $60,000 in collection charges.People don't realize this until they are in the tar pit.

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Oooooh,that's a really scary article. Yeah, the people made some really dumb mistakes, but higher education has risen wayyyy faster than inflation. When I was young, you could pay at least one semester's tuition with your summer job earnings (assuming minimum wage). Now, you can't.

When we toured my daughter's college a couple of years ago (University North Tex. in Denton) they showed us the new gym facilities. Everyone oohed and ahhed. My thought was "why are the spending all this money? why not lower tuition?" And they tried another 5% hike for next year for, get this, a new football stadium!

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Specializes in ER, ICU, Education.

State colleges are still affordable, we just borrow too much money. It's just too darn easy

to borrow more then you really need to survive.

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I almost titled this thread, "is this person an idiot or should I feel sorry for them". You see I do feel bad but there are no free lunches. Somehow I think this and a million loans like this will never get paid back and me and other taxpayers will end up paying. So I spend my whole life avoiding debt and paying things off as quickly as possible. Somehow I just know I will get stuck with this bill.

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Specializes in Army Medic.

I've always found my student loan agencies to be the easiest to work with when it comes to figuring out payment options. I was more than 12 months overdue on some college loan payments that never got sent over to collections.

I'm guessing she ignored her personal life and got wrapped up in residency.

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she'll be fine, she's a doctor, she'll retire as a millionaire, unless she doesn't remove her head from her rear.

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Specializes in SICU.

Doctors were one of the main reasons that bankruptcy laws were changed several years ago. A large amount of them used to take out massive loans to pay for med school, finish residency and then declare bankruptcy. It would wipe out all the student loans just as they started making large amounts of money. They could then by the big house and the latest BMW etc. Now student loans can not be wiped out by bankruptcy and Doc's don't make anything like the used to coming out of residency.

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Specializes in Army Medic.
Doctors were one of the main reasons that bankruptcy laws were changed several years ago. A large amount of them used to take out massive loans to pay for med school, finish residency and then declare bankruptcy. It would wipe out all the student loans just as they started making large amounts of money. They could then by the big house and the latest BMW etc. Now student loans can not be wiped out by bankruptcy and Doc's don't make anything like the used to coming out of residency.

Military members as well, a lot of guys I knew in the Army would go out and buy a house, a boat, an RV then file for bankruptcy. Being a federal employee protected them from having bankruptcy negatively affect their credit record, basically getting a bunch of stuff for free.

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Doctors were one of the main reasons that bankruptcy laws were changed several years ago. A large amount of them used to take out massive loans to pay for med school, finish residency and then declare bankruptcy. It would wipe out all the student loans just as they started making large amounts of money. They could then by the big house and the latest BMW etc. Now student loans can not be wiped out by bankruptcy and Doc's don't make anything like the used to coming out of residency.

I remember when Doctors could do what you just described. I wonder if someone forgot to tell her that the laws had changed.

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
I almost titled this thread, "is this person an idiot or should I feel sorry for them". You see I do feel bad but there are no free lunches. Somehow I think this and a million loans like this will never get paid back and me and other taxpayers will end up paying. So I spend my whole life avoiding debt and paying things off as quickly as possible. Somehow I just know I will get stuck with this bill.

Maybe this is bad of me but I didn't feel sorry for her at all. Yes I have student loan debt. Yes I have fallen upon some very very very hard times. BUT my debt is just that, my debt, I knew what I was doing when I pulled out my student loans or any of the other bills I have gotten myself into and I don't need a pity party for it. I would have more sympathy for the fresh out of HS student that got in over their head with the loans and stuff, I could see the ignorance more then. But not in this case. Half of her debt she owes now is from failure to pay period and accumulating penalties and interest basically.

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i do not feel sorry for her.

she's smart enough to become a doctor but doesn't know to read every word on a contract???

leslie

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