Abstract
The past decade has seen declining interest in primary care medicine and a dramatic increase in the cost of a medical degree. Seventy-nine percent of housestaff in an internal medicine residency program responded to a survey to determine whether medical school loan burden was related to career choice in a primary care field or specialty area. Overall mean indebtedness was $45,185 (median $40,000). Thirty-eight percent of residents with debts < $40,000 chose a career in primary care, compared with 10% with debts > $40,000 (chi square =9.44, p<0.01). Fourteen percent of those with debts <40,000 and 59% with debts > $40,000 stated that financial conditions had a moderate to marked impact on their career decision making. Excessive loan burden has a significant influence on residents’ career decision making and a negative influence on choosing careers in primary care internal medicine.
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Berg, D., Cerletty, J. & Byrd, J.C. The impact of educational loan burden on housestaff career decisions. J Gen Intern Med 8, 143–145 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599760
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02599760