Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 06:35     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid graduated from med school this year. we used 529 and paid 100% of it. Owes no loan. it is dang expensive. we probably paid 320k+


This post isn't about you.


OP asked "how" and I answered "using 529 savings". Don't be a jerk


How many middle class families do you think have $320k in a 529?
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 06:11     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As our Doctors get into extreme debt levels for the opportunity to work for free for a chance at becoming a doctor, this is probably another corruption based "complex" do get the doctors to shut up and play the game of mass prescribing of drugs. That's bc our country is a corrupt shtshw owned and ran by billionaires who want to get everyone addicted to drugs from the youngest toddler to the oldest geriatric. America as a nation of junk food, druggie, pill popping, idiots explains so much as to why we do what we do.


Our doctors go into extreme dept because they are stupid with money and spend inappropriately when in med school and residency.

That’s over generalization. Doctors are known to be terrible with money, but med school tuition is crippling. My child went to undergrad for free and her 529 will still fall short of paying for med school.


It isn’t that “doctors” are terrible with money, it’s the middle class and upper middle class young adults are terrible with money. Many do not know how to live frugally with minimal expenses. They are used to take out, vacations, restaurants, parties, etc. The living expend up being a big part of their overall med school dept- then add in they decide to get married in residency (worse, to another resident in a lot of debt) and have ids shortly after. Now they have a lot more expenses, need to buy a house, etc. If need to take out loans in med school, you need to live as frugally as possible through med school, residency, and the few years following- and not get married and have kids until you are well on your way to paying it all off.

I still disagree with you. Tuition costs are so high no amount of “frugal living” is going to make it easy to pay back quickly.
I am also married to a physician. He finished residency at 33 (which will be earlier than his daughters because of gap years now). How long do you suggest putting off having children?
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 06:04     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Long story short. They don't poor people are too poor and rich people are to lazy and stupid. So look forward to our healthcare quality plummeting. Maybe they should just start putting mcsonalds and arbys in hospitals so the food reflects rhe quality of care and the fact that America is an Idiocracy.


This is partially true. Med school doesn't make financial sense for most people without parental assistance, especially in certain specialities like pediatrics. Also, if AI reduces the number of doctors we need, we should as a national subsidize medical school, since at least basic health is a public good, so medicine isn't financially crippling for qualified applicants.

Even pediatrics work out. $200k is a lot of money, even after tax.

A subsidy, if it exists, should go towards unmet needs - e.g. tuition forgiveness for rural FM/IM/peds docs, for example, or med school application/MCAT fees for pell eligible students (maybe make medschool application waivers also conditional on a minimum MCAT score so people don't YOLO everywhere with a 490).
Making medical school cheap for everyone will mean taxpayer dollars being given to future LA/NYC/etc plastic surgeons and dermatologists.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 05:56     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As our Doctors get into extreme debt levels for the opportunity to work for free for a chance at becoming a doctor, this is probably another corruption based "complex" do get the doctors to shut up and play the game of mass prescribing of drugs. That's bc our country is a corrupt shtshw owned and ran by billionaires who want to get everyone addicted to drugs from the youngest toddler to the oldest geriatric. America as a nation of junk food, druggie, pill popping, idiots explains so much as to why we do what we do.


Our doctors go into extreme dept because they are stupid with money and spend inappropriately when in med school and residency.

That’s over generalization. Doctors are known to be terrible with money, but med school tuition is crippling. My child went to undergrad for free and her 529 will still fall short of paying for med school.
Even private loans can easily be paid back as long as she's not stupid with her spending.
Anonymous
Post 03/17/2026 05:55     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
If you actually use a loan calculator, you'll find that you can pay off even private loans quite quickly if you continue to live on a resident's salary after starting as an attending. Especially if you're in a specialty and/or do locums tenens and/or work in a rural area (if only for a few years)
Anonymous
Post 03/05/2026 06:39     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Just off the top of my head, i think I read an article that that explored how much the Iraq and Afghanistan wars costed taxpayers we could have had healthcare and college education free like Canada has
Anonymous
Post 03/04/2026 13:07     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:My husband, husband and cousin all graduated residency with $200K+ in debt. The each finished residency and lived like paupers for 2-3 years and paid it all off.

The problem is that today's grads want to live large in residency and really large once they start getting an attending's income. That doesn't work.


Oops, this text was meant to be husband, brother and cousin.
Anonymous
Post 03/04/2026 13:06     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
My husband, husband and cousin all graduated residency with $200K+ in debt. The each finished residency and lived like paupers for 2-3 years and paid it all off.

The problem is that today's grads want to live large in residency and really large once they start getting an attending's income. That doesn't work.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 20:47     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Well we will always come back to these exploited necessities that should not be for profit monopolies like health care, education, and war. If they are they will always screw real people to enrich a miniscule minority.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:34     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As our Doctors get into extreme debt levels for the opportunity to work for free for a chance at becoming a doctor, this is probably another corruption based "complex" do get the doctors to shut up and play the game of mass prescribing of drugs. That's bc our country is a corrupt shtshw owned and ran by billionaires who want to get everyone addicted to drugs from the youngest toddler to the oldest geriatric. America as a nation of junk food, druggie, pill popping, idiots explains so much as to why we do what we do.


Our doctors go into extreme dept because they are stupid with money and spend inappropriately when in med school and residency.

That’s over generalization. Doctors are known to be terrible with money, but med school tuition is crippling. My child went to undergrad for free and her 529 will still fall short of paying for med school.


It isn’t that “doctors” are terrible with money, it’s the middle class and upper middle class young adults are terrible with money. Many do not know how to live frugally with minimal expenses. They are used to take out, vacations, restaurants, parties, etc. The living expend up being a big part of their overall med school dept- then add in they decide to get married in residency (worse, to another resident in a lot of debt) and have ids shortly after. Now they have a lot more expenses, need to buy a house, etc. If need to take out loans in med school, you need to live as frugally as possible through med school, residency, and the few years following- and not get married and have kids until you are well on your way to paying it all off.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:28     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would say Army. Our taxes go to war and golden parachutes for billionaires. But education is a luxury for countries that respect and care about their people. Even though we are the richest. That money is for the criminals in America. Workers get dickymcgeezax.


Army has the worst quality of life.


We aren’t talking about enlisted soldiers living in barracks. Army doctors have a comparable quality of life with any other branch- with a better job


Do you have military health insurance or a military doctor? I'm not just talking about barracks. You clearly have no clue.


I was, and yes I do have a clue.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:22     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:As our Doctors get into extreme debt levels for the opportunity to work for free for a chance at becoming a doctor, this is probably another corruption based "complex" do get the doctors to shut up and play the game of mass prescribing of drugs. That's bc our country is a corrupt shtshw owned and ran by billionaires who want to get everyone addicted to drugs from the youngest toddler to the oldest geriatric. America as a nation of junk food, druggie, pill popping, idiots explains so much as to why we do what we do.


Our doctors go into extreme dept because they are stupid with money and spend inappropriately when in med school and residency.

That’s over generalization. Doctors are known to be terrible with money, but med school tuition is crippling. My child went to undergrad for free and her 529 will still fall short of paying for med school.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:04     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:Long story short. They don't poor people are too poor and rich people are to lazy and stupid. So look forward to our healthcare quality plummeting. Maybe they should just start putting mcsonalds and arbys in hospitals so the food reflects rhe quality of care and the fact that America is an Idiocracy.


This is partially true. Med school doesn't make financial sense for most people without parental assistance, especially in certain specialities like pediatrics. Also, if AI reduces the number of doctors we need, we should as a national subsidize medical school, since at least basic health is a public good, so medicine isn't financially crippling for qualified applicants.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:02     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:Long story short. They don't poor people are too poor and rich people are to lazy and stupid. So look forward to our healthcare quality plummeting. Maybe they should just start putting mcsonalds and arbys in hospitals so the food reflects rhe quality of care and the fact that America is an Idiocracy.


Many hospitals have fast food. Walter Reed and Inova have Panera. Walter Reed also has Wendy's.
Anonymous
Post 03/02/2026 13:01     Subject: How do middle class kids afford med school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I would say Army. Our taxes go to war and golden parachutes for billionaires. But education is a luxury for countries that respect and care about their people. Even though we are the richest. That money is for the criminals in America. Workers get dickymcgeezax.


Army has the worst quality of life.


We aren’t talking about enlisted soldiers living in barracks. Army doctors have a comparable quality of life with any other branch- with a better job


Do you have military health insurance or a military doctor? I'm not just talking about barracks. You clearly have no clue.