Proposition: Cut of Physician's Salary Instead of Medical School Tuition

The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology has published an interesting article suggesting an alternative for significant student loan debt to physicians coming out of training. Instead of incurring hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans, the article suggests medical schools taking a cut out of physician's salaries during their initial years in practice to pay for their education.

This is a very interesting proposition. There is major concern for the shortage in physicians currently and that need will increase exponentially with healthcare reform. Many medical schools are coming up with alternatives to address the shortage, such as Johns Hopkins offering significant financial aid programs for physicians entering primary care training. The proposition offered in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology would eliminate debt for medical students and allow doctors to choose their specialty based on desire rather than ability to pay back loans.

The rate for docs in public schools would be 5% of income; and 10% for those who go to private schools. These rates are across all specialties.

Having this program in place eliminates the need to constantly increase tuition and removes the economic impact on medical schools from the loss of tuition if a future decision is made to shorten the length of medical education.

Read the full article in Physician's News, or click here:
http://www.physiciansnews.com/2010/07/07/instead-of-tuition-medical-schools-should-get-cut-of-docs-salary/