Most of us are about to go into an enormous amount of debt in medical school. Being a non-traditional student (read "older"), it's tough thinking about how we're going to climb out of it. Most of us will be at least 40 before we are out of residencies and making decent salaries (ouch and ouch). Many have, or will have, families and mortgages...and choice of specialty will also make a difference into how quickly this debt will go away. What I am getting at, if you're still with me, is that there are some options available to us.
There are financial assistance and scholarship programs that will pay for one-four years of school in exchange for your newly acquired skills as a physician.
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
This program is through the US Department of Health & Human Services.
http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALOG.SEARCH_PGM_TXT_DYN.SHOW?p_arg_names=prog_nbr_in&p_arg_values=93.288&p_arg_names=keyword_in&p_arg_values=medical%20school&p_arg_names=_title&p_arg_values=
also here.... http://www.hrsa.gov/help/healthprofessions.htm
INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE
Here's a way to help pay back your med school loans AND help the communities on Native American reservations. The Indian Health Service of the US Dept of Health and Human Services has a Loan Repayment Program, where a doctor can live and work on a Native American reservation in exchange for a set amount of annual pay towards medical school loans.
http://www.ihs.gov/JobsCareerDevelop/DHPS/LRP/index.asp
HEALTH PROFESSIONS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS through the military.
The Army, Navy and Air Force are the only three branches that have this program.
Air Force: http://www.airforce.com/education/healthcare/moneyForSchool.php
Army: http://www.goarmy.com/amedd/medical/corps_benefits.jsp#hpsp
Navy: http://www.navy.com/healthcareopportunities/
