Student Loans - Financial slavery?

This is an interesting article which I first saw circulating on the popular site studentdoctor.net and then on a yahoo e-group. Lesson of the day is that you can be enslaved by student loans if you don't manage them responsibly. http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/108846/the-555000-student-loan-burden?mod=edu-continuing_education.

I think this reflects a common theme going on with graduates of higher education. Dr. Bisutti's case is a very good example that there are times when the only option is to take out loans in exchange for a higher education. This is particularly true in the U.S where higher education (professional schools in particular) is very expensive. The cost for undergraduate education is quickly on the rise as well. However, in order to stay out of financial horrors as in this report, it is very important to make a plan on how to start repaying these loans. Pushing them off by the side is not an option b/c the burden will only come back and bite you. A misconception that people have, including some medical students, is that once medical students become MDs they'll be able to pay off these loans easily AND live a lavish life style. Well, not always true. One of the determining factors is the specialty you chose. For instance, Dr. Bisutti decided to go into Family Medicine which is one of the least paid medical specialties with an average annual income of about $135,000. Given that she has med school related loans of about $250,000 and that she makes monthly payments, she will be able to live like someone within the middle income range i.e comfortable and NOTHING MORE than that. It all boils down to being responsible in managing your loans.

Nowadays, more medical students are making the decision not to go into primary care i.e Family Practice, General internal medicine partly because of the above situation. With time, patients will be affected most b/c these primary care physicians are your front line doctors. The every day guys you see for your every day ailments. They are the ones will usually take care of your common complaints like...."I've been having this headache for a while and my body aches all over and I've been feeling really tired" and then they refer you to specialist, if need be. So with a decrease in primary care physicians, this means longer wait times to get an appointment; increase in patient load per doc which implies longer wait times in doctor's office when you do get an appointment and a likely decrease in those volunteering their time in free clinics for those uninsured. This's a lesson to be learned b/c even a $29,000 undergraduate loan can quickly spiral up to $90,000 if not managed appropriately, as in the report.