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  • Hi guys!

  • If you guys are new to the channel I'm Jamie and I'm a third year medical school student.

  • One of the most frequent questions I get is how much does medical school cost and how

  • do medical school students cover their living expenses--so I thought I would make a dedicated

  • video on the the cost of medical school and answer some questions like if it's worth

  • it or not.

  • The actual cost of going to medical school is dependent a lot on what state you reside

  • in and the type of medical school you go to.

  • State or public medical schools--for the most part are cheaper than private ones.

  • According to a survey by the Association of American Medical College the average (median)

  • yearly tuition of a student attending a public medical school in 2016 is approximately $31,000

  • while the cost of attending a private medical school is approximately $53,000.

  • Outside of tuition there are other costs to consider as well like:

  • cost of living--like your rent and food, healthcare costs,

  • transportation costs, cost of books, and

  • fees for boards exams like USMLE step, etc.

  • With all these taken into account the annual living cost can reach upto $25,000.

  • Making the total estimated cost $56,000 and $78,000 for public and private med school

  • respectively.

  • And for four years that's $224k or $312k.

  • According to the AAMC in 2015, the average debt of a medical school graduate is $183k.

  • That's not including the debt incurred during undergrad years.

  • While you do get paid during residency, it's usually not enough to pay off your debts,

  • and you're still not a full practicing physician.

  • You're still learning to become one.

  • Aside from the monetary costs, there are other costs to consider as well--such as time.

  • One of the requirements of applying to medical schools is a bachelor degree from an accredited

  • institution--so that means for most of us, that's

  • -4 years of Undergrad, Plus Medical school itself which also takes

  • 4 years.

  • Finally, when you're done with medical school, residency can take anywhere between 3 to 7

  • years.

  • So in total it can take upto: 11 to 15 years to complete.

  • Just by attending medical school, there are a lot of things you miss out on.

  • First, there's the potential money you could be earning if you went to a different field.

  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the average weekly income of a person with

  • a bachelor's degree is approximately $1,200.

  • That equates to $62,400 a year.

  • For the sake of simplicity, let's assume your income stays at this level for the next

  • four years, in four years the total income you're giving up by going to medical school

  • is $249,600 while accumulating anywhere between $224k to $312k in expenses.

  • So it does set you back quite a bit.

  • Aside from the income, there are a lot of other things you're giving upbecause

  • of the academic rigors that come with being in med school, your social life is one of

  • the first things to go.

  • You have to say no to a lot of social events with your friends.

  • It's not uncommon for friendships and relationships you have made from high school or college

  • to drift away.

  • Anecdotally speaking, I went from maybe hanging out with my non-med school friends every weekend

  • or every other weekend to maybe once every couple months.

  • Keep in mind though- you do make friends in medical school and you get to spend a lot

  • of time with them.

  • You go through a LOT together so it does tend to nurture close friendships.

  • So it's not completely true that your entire social life goes out the window- it's more

  • like your social life shifts to include mostly only your med school friends.

  • Another thing you're giving up is your 20s!

  • There are some industries where you can start working right after getting your bachelors.

  • You can enjoy life, travel, buy a house and even start a family.

  • In med school, your lifestyle by default will be a little different--you'll probably wait

  • a little longer and start your family a bit later, though not necessarily.

  • While you do get paid during residency, it's not enough to pay down your loans.

  • By the time you're done with residency, you're going to be in your early to mid

  • 30s.

  • So overall you're sacrificing quite a bit.

  • That's why I always say you need to be pretty close to 100% sure if you want to go to med

  • school--you are giving up a lot and you should be ready to make those sacrifices.

  • So after EVERYTHING I just said, why should anyone go into medicine?

  • I'm a third year medical school student now and I can't think of anything I'd

  • rather be doing.

  • I love that I'm learning a special set of skills that allows me to help people in ways

  • very few other professions can.

  • I love that in medicine, you're constantly learning and it's always intellectually

  • stimulating.

  • You're pretty much a lifelong student because science, medicine, and technology is constantly

  • changing and you get to stay on top of that.

  • And at the same time, medicine is all about teaching, empowering others with the information

  • you have, and bringing up and training the next generation of physicians, which is what

  • I hope to do later in my career.

  • So to ME, all the sacrifice, debt, and time is worth it.

  • People ask me all the time whether they should go into medicine or not- whether the time

  • and financial commitment is worth it.

  • I think the only person who can make that decision is YOU and hopefully this video can

  • aid in some small way to make that a very well-informed decision.

  • With that, I'll end the video here.

  • I hope you guys found it useful and got an overall idea of the cost of medical school.

  • If you guys found it helpful, please give this video a thumbs up, and if you haven't

  • already subscribe and I'll see you guys next time.

  • Byee!

Hi guys!

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