Ontario Resident loan relief program?

[shady]

Does anyone have experience with Ontario's Resident Loan Relief program where they basically make OSAP interest-free during residency?

On their ROS conditions, they say "Fellowships whether inside or outside of Ontario are not allowed." However, they say "Out-of Province Sub-specialty Training is allowed'

This sounds contradictory to me, so I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the program and can shed some light?

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/rlirp/service.aspx

[ellorie]

I'd imagine that subspecialty training is things like GIM or paediatrics doing cardiology or some such for the last part of their training, or a psychiatry resident doing child psychiatry.

Fellowship would be finishing your residency and choosing to do something non-College recognized for an extra year.

[shady]

Hmm that seems arbitrary in a sense. So a surgery resident doing hepatobilliary (not royal college) would not be covered while one doing thoracic surgery (royal college) would...

Are you sure of this interpretation?

[shady]

I'm replying to my own thread, but I think I've sorta figured it out

 

Judging by the old program website: " If you take up a fellowship directly after residency whether inside or outside of Ontario, your ROS obligations will be deferred for the duration of your fellowship and the time you spend in the fellowship will not count toward your ROS obligations. Upon completion of your fellowship, you must immediately begin fulfilling your ROS obligations."

https://members.oma.org/MedicalStudents/Pages/rlirpfaq.aspx

 

And the current website: " Fellowships whether inside or outside of Ontario are not allowed. Upon commencement of a fellowship the resident medical loan goes into repayment. Participants who go directly from residency into practice must also start paying their loans. "

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/rlirp/service.aspx

 

It sounds to me that they mean the interest will not be paid during fellowship (hence the term "not allowed"), but the return of service contract can be deferred until immediately after fellowship

[ralk]

I wouldn't touch this program with a ten foot pole. It's got more restrictions on it than just fellowship obligations unfortunately, not just on where you work but what kind of work you can do (locuming, for example). The amount of money saved isn't nothing, but fairly trivial in the grand scheme of things. Not worth the restrictions on career paths, or the risk that the conditions of the program simply can't be met due to the job market.

[NLengr]

15 hours ago, ralk said:

I wouldn't touch this program with a ten foot pole. It's got more restrictions on it than just fellowship obligations unfortunately, not just on where you work but what kind of work you can do (locuming, for example). The amount of money saved isn't nothing, but fairly trivial in the grand scheme of things. Not worth the restrictions on career paths, or the risk that the conditions of the program simply can't be met due to the job market.

I agree, this program is garbage. They ask way way to much for very little money in return. 

It's probably the worst ROS program in the country. 

[rmorelan]

5 hours ago, NLengr said:

I agree, this program is garbage. They ask way way to much for very little money in return. 

It's probably the worst ROS program in the country. 

yeah I am afraid I would have to agree - the loss of flexibility for extremely limited savings in interest seems like for most people an unwise tradeoff. If you are doing family medicine you save only two years of interest which isn't enough I feel to warrant any restrictions they impose. If you are in the longer training term specialties the job market is very likely limited in some way, so while you save more interest (3-5 years worth typically over family med) the loss of flexibility at the end would harm potentially your job search options. The lost of even one month in getting a job would overwhelm the interest savings. 

The only way this somehow makes sense is your absolutely sure where you are working when you are done, and the interest savings is just a small bonus. That is a rather rare thing I think. 

 

 

[rogerroger]

Beware of ROS. 

Do not ever sell your freedom if you can avoid it. 

Whatever the government offers you as a carrot will always be less than what you give up. These programs are not designed as charity. They are  a means for an end from the government prospective. 

[shady]

100% agree with your opinions re: this program having an undue hardship for little gain

However, a friend of mine is an IMG who is doing a 5-year residency with a 5-year ROS contract which is difficult to break out of. That contract CAN be overlapped with this ROS concurrently, so if they're already tied, might as well get the benefits of this one as well

Or so I was thinking

[rmorelan]

2 hours ago, shady said:

100% agree with your opinions re: this program having an undue hardship for little gain

However, a friend of mine is an IMG who is doing a 5-year residency with a 5-year ROS contract which is difficult to break out of. That contract CAN be overlapped with this ROS concurrently, so if they're already tied, might as well get the benefits of this one as well

Or so I was thinking

and they have loans that qualify? That might be a situation where it could work (in theory). They are already stuck in one place I suppose - hard but not impossible to break the ROS (at least on paper). 

 

[Eian01]

This program is not good, it put you in restrictions. you have to abide the restrictions and it feels like chained. Hope you make decision wisely. 

[shady]

13 hours ago, rmorelan said:

and they have loans that qualify? That might be a situation where it could work (in theory). They are already stuck in one place I suppose - hard but not impossible to break the ROS (at least on paper). 

 

Yea essentially. Osap loan of around 50k

Apparently the Ontario IMG contract will cost $100k/year of ROS to break, with number of ROS years = number of residency years

So $500k to break off 5 ROS years from a 5 year program. That's really expensive, and tough to break

[rmorelan]

yeah that is the point - they don't want you to, ha. That doesn't seem to stop people sometimes though and I suspect it would be hard to actually recoup the money. 

So that cost savings under that relief would be roughly 1250 dollars a year. On a pretty big OSAP loan. You can see why there isn't really a ton of incentive there in the standard case.