How to fund medical school life?

[dazzle]

Hello,

 

So I've received an offer from UWO at unspecified campus, but I'm pretty apprehensious about how much a medical school education will cost. If I tabulate the costs here, this is how much I get:

 

14k tuition/year

12k living expenses (food and rent)/year

personal to me: medical expenses of a few thousand dollars.

 

The cost of a medical education may easily shoot up to 35k per year. Thing is, this is a lot of money to invest and I am worried that, in the event I would need to withdraw for whatever reason (medical, personal, financial, etc), then this 35k (or 70k, if it's been two years) is money I would never see again without any degree or anything complete to show for.

 

What have current students done and what are future students planning? I would like to know what you had to say on this, how you funded your education, etc. I am sorry for the ignorance; I come from Quebec and these are not worries that I am used to. This is really the most important hurdle for me to accept the offer. Thank you!

[cdawso23]

Just found this here:

 

https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/financialassistance

 

So, not to be a downer...but I believe tuition is more than 14k?

 

Anyways, I believe for myself, I will getting a line of credit. Banks (I have heard) are generally very happy to give you large loans (upwards for 200k) with no need for a cosigner/collateral. I also applied for a bursary (although late) so hopefully will get that but might not, especially since I submitted late... I suppose what you're worried about is borrowing that sort of money and not being able to pay it back - I'm not really sure how to ease your worry at all with that. I guess it's a risk you have to decide if you can take? Do you feel like you have legitimate reasons to worry right now about having to withdraw? If not, I'd say it's a fairly safe bet.

[nosuperman]

Just for starters I'll let you know you'll have a ton of help in this area starting school. You'll have access to financial advisors from multiple companies and you'll get many lectures on finance beginning in O-week before school starts. If you sign up with the OMA/CMA you get free access to a financial advisor throughout the year. This will be advice not just for present budgeting but for future planning as well. I know we're also implementing some budgeting help from some student support groups as well and we're putting together a bunch of stuff for that.

 

That said most people get lines of credit from Scotiabank/RBC/MD Financial which are generally very med-student friendly and they more than cover the costs of tuition and living expenses. Tuition is around 22k right now (might have gone up since then, don't quote me but its at least that) and most students that I've worked with have gotten by around 40k / year plus bursaries and OSAP.

[obi]

Scotiabank will give you 50k / year. From Sept 1 - Sept 1 i'll probably have spent ~42k. As a medical student if you don't own a car or don't have a job you will qualify for around 14k in OSAP. A few thousand of that 14k (cant remember the exact amount) is a bursary (yay!!).

 

At the end of the day though, if you complete your degree, you will be able to pay down your debt without too much trouble.

 

Thing is, this is a lot of money to invest and I am worried that, in the event I would need to withdraw for whatever reason (medical, personal, financial, etc), then this 35k (or 70k, if it's been two years) is money I would never see again without any degree or anything complete to show for.

 

I'm not sure if this means you currently have something you're working through or if you've just got the medschool jitters. If its the latter, I wouldn't stress about it. There are tons of resources available to help you through the process and make sure you get to the other side of an MD

[WtsupDoc?]

Do medical students ever work part-time? I have worked part-time (20+ hrs/week) throughout my UG and Masters. Just wonder thoughts/opinions from current students. I have a hard time stomaching paying for living expenses with loans that are accruing interest every month.

[toastman]

I'm gonna assume its too late to apply for bursaries, but are there any entrance scholarships/or anything without an app.? Thanks :)

[nosuperman]

Do medical students ever work part-time? I have worked part-time (20+ hrs/week) throughout my UG and Masters. Just wonder thoughts/opinions from current students. I have a hard time stomaching paying for living expenses with loans that are accruing interest every month.

 

I can't stress this enough - if you can get away with not working, don't work. You'll come out of preclerkship (you won't work during clerkship) with a few thousand dollars less debt but you'll be behind on opportunities and balance and your colleagues who took on the debt will pay it back in only a few months more time once you're all making full salary.

 

I've worked part time (out of necessity) and its been almost impossible. I too worked almost full time midnights during undergrad so I'm pretty used to doing it successfully but the commitments for med school are pretty big. Also the only way I could get any hours in was having an extremely flexible source of income (sole proprietorships and a flexible side job) since you're routinely finding out that you have commitments with only a few days notice - you either gotta be your own boss or have someone who is OK with you dipping out of work commitments at the last minute.

 

I'm gonna assume its too late to apply for bursaries, but are there any entrance scholarships/or anything without an app.? Thanks :)

 

Nope, there's a lot more than just the main schulich bursaries. You can search Western bursaries, OMSF bursaries, and you can email financial aid and see about other opportunities. I know I've been able to submit some throughout the year.

 

Again we'll be covering all this stuff throughout O-week and September

[dazzle]

Yeah, I sort of missed that bursary application that we were supposed to file by April 2. I am such an idiot..

[WtsupDoc?]

I can't stress this enough - if you can get away with not working, don't work. You'll come out of preclerkship (you won't work during clerkship) with a few thousand dollars less debt but you'll be behind on opportunities and balance and your colleagues who took on the debt will pay it back in only a few months more time once you're all making full salary.

 

I've worked part time (out of necessity) and its been almost impossible. I too worked almost full time midnights during undergrad so I'm pretty used to doing it successfully but the commitments for med school are pretty big. Also the only way I could get any hours in was having an extremely flexible source of income (sole proprietorships and a flexible side job) since you're routinely finding out that you have commitments with only a few days notice - you either gotta be your own boss or have someone who is OK with you dipping out of work commitments at the last minute.

 

Thanks so much for the insight.

[ScotiabankMedsAdvisor]

Dazzle if you want to get in touch with me I can give you some information on the products that are available to you as a medical student.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Dazzle, I applied late for the bursary and still got some money. I think the deadline is more for the scholarship. So apply for that bursary ASAP even if you're late the worst they will do is say no!

[tbear]

If we applied for the Schulich Scholarship, does that mean that we have also already applied for the bursary?

[rmorelan]

Hello,

 

So I've received an offer from UWO at unspecified campus, but I'm pretty apprehensious about how much a medical school education will cost. If I tabulate the costs here, this is how much I get:

 

14k tuition/year

12k living expenses (food and rent)/year

personal to me: medical expenses of a few thousand dollars.

 

The cost of a medical education may easily shoot up to 35k per year. Thing is, this is a lot of money to invest and I am worried that, in the event I would need to withdraw for whatever reason (medical, personal, financial, etc), then this 35k (or 70k, if it's been two years) is money I would never see again without any degree or anything complete to show for.

 

What have current students done and what are future students planning? I would like to know what you had to say on this, how you funded your education, etc. I am sorry for the ignorance; I come from Quebec and these are not worries that I am used to. This is really the most important hurdle for me to accept the offer. Thank you!

 

 

The true cost is about 40K+ a year - tuition is over 21K now.

 

We all pretty much get a Line of credit from a bank - the scotia link above to one such bank - they are about 250K in total which is more than enough alone to cover the cost.

[Pythagora]

The true cost is about 40K+ a year - tuition is over 21K now.

 

We all pretty much get a Line of credit from a bank - the scotia link above to one such bank - they are about 250K in total which is more than enough alone to cover the cost.

 

For anyone that filled out the Admissions Bursary form in order to apply for the Schulich Scholarship, you might have seen this link already. It was sort of hidden in the text explaining one of the sections, but budgets for $43 219 per year including rent, food, transportation etc. etc.

https://studentservices.uwo.ca/secure/admissionbursaries/Budget-Medical.htm

 

There is also this from Schulich with some of the other extra fees you run into over the years

http://www.schulich.uwo.ca/admissions/medicine/financialassistance

[dazzle]

How do OSAP's work exactly? Do people get those in addition to the bank line of credit?

[schmitty]

How do OSAP's work exactly? Do people get those in addition to the bank line of credit?

 

Yes, you can go to osap.gov.on.ca and apply now if you want. They will ask for a bunch of info and give you an estimate of how much assistance they will give you. This is an interest-free loan until 6months after graduation at which point you need to start paying it back (and paying interest, but most people just transfer the balance to your LOC at this point to save interest). If you get over $7000 or so per year, you may qualify for grants that mean you don't have to pay back the amount over $7000.

 

As for worries about dropping out...it does happen, but VERY rare. Once you are in, they have a LOT of support to keep you there, even if you go through personal/medical troubles. You can even take a year leave if you have some serious issues you need to deal with (with approval, obviously).

[dazzle]

Would anyone from UWO be able give me the name of their student health insurance plan and some contact info (preferably toll-free) to contact this insurance company? I am starting to do some research into this.

 

I contacted Trillium today and cool thing is apparantly people with no income cannot pay more than $350 per year on drugs. That is even better than Quebec if true.

[obi]

http://studentbenefits.ca/sbta/?q=student&sch=USC

[rmorelan]

Would anyone from UWO be able give me the name of their student health insurance plan and some contact info (preferably toll-free) to contact this insurance company? I am starting to do some research into this.

 

I contacted Trillium today and cool thing is apparantly people with no income cannot pay more than $350 per year on drugs. That is even better than Quebec if true.

 

on APPROVED drugs - to be more complete That would pretty much all the of the important ones etc (some times there is a name brand vs generic debate though).

[dazzle]

on APPROVED drugs - to be more complete That would pretty much all the of the important ones etc (some times there is a name brand vs generic debate though).

 

mine is on the list

 

Debate now for me is personal/financial rather than medical.* It is simply to see whether I would want to do grad school in philosophy or do medical school. If the former, I can't afford to withdraw from med with debt because philosophy grad school won't ever put me in a position to pay back even one or two years of med school debts.

 

*Well there is always a medical side. It could be that a medical problem makes medical school a personal battle difficult to live through. But I am not thinking of that. I am confident any accomodations can be made for a school's own student.

[CharmingHedgehog]

Do medical students ever work part-time? I have worked part-time (20+ hrs/week) throughout my UG and Masters. Just wonder thoughts/opinions from current students. I have a hard time stomaching paying for living expenses with loans that are accruing interest every month.

 

I worked as a pharmacist for a year and a half since the beginning of med school. Just quit at the end of March this year. I worked around 4-16 hrs / week depending on the hours they assigned, and whether there were exams coming up. I was still able to get a bursary and OSAP for second year (we'll see about third year though).

I'd say if you are going to make close to minimum wage, there is really no point in working, because I did miss out on a lot of social events and down time. The reason I quit was because school was getting so hectic that I can't maintain the work hours I had. I also think I was able to get away with studying less and working throughout the year because a lot of stuff covered in class I have learned a little about in pharmacy already, so most of the stuff I had at least heard of.

Put the time you'd have gone to work towards a research project will probably benefit you more for carms.

I know a couple of classmates who was working in first year, most of them have stopped working. Not sure about everyone though.

 

Debate now for me is personal/financial rather than medical.* It is simply to see whether I would want to do grad school in philosophy or do medical school. If the former, I can't afford to withdraw from med with debt because philosophy grad school won't ever put me in a position to pay back even one or two years of med school debts.

 

*Well there is always a medical side. It could be that a medical problem makes medical school a personal battle difficult to live through. But I am not thinking of that. I am confident any accommodations can be made for a school's own student.

 

I think it'll probably be wise to decide if you would rather do grad school or medical school before entering medical school, just because there's really very little use in attending one or two years of medical school by itself. Once you are in, you are pretty much committed to be in. Rest assured that everyone will graduate medical school with debt, and most people will pay it back, as long as they manage their money appropriately (i.e. don't spend beyond your means once you are an attending). From the finance aspect of things, I'd say you'll probably come out just as in debt as everyone else in the class.

 

On the medical end, Western is very very good at accommodating a student's needs, and the Learners Equity and Wellness program is very well run.

[rmorelan]

mine is on the list

 

Debate now for me is personal/financial rather than medical.* It is simply to see whether I would want to do grad school in philosophy or do medical school. If the former, I can't afford to withdraw from med with debt because philosophy grad school won't ever put me in a position to pay back even one or two years of med school debts.

 

*Well there is always a medical side. It could be that a medical problem makes medical school a personal battle difficult to live through. But I am not thinking of that. I am confident any accomodations can be made for a school's own student.

 

The school - as I suspect most are - is very accommodating with illness.

 

Also just so you know you are allowed to take a year off in the middle of the med degree to go do a masters if you like (which means you will be doing that masters with the power of your full LOC behind you). Just saying.

[yuanqi]

The school - as I suspect most are - is very accommodating with illness.

 

Also just so you know you are allowed to take a year off in the middle of the med degree to go do a masters if you like (which means you will be doing that masters with the power of your full LOC behind you). Just saying.

 

Is it better to do it during Med School or during residency?

[aRnonymous]

Is it better to do it during Med School or during residency?

 

It depends. It may help you get a residency spot if it's something very competitive. The advantage of doing it during your residency is that then it's paid for (you get paid your resident salary during your year off).

[dazzle]

Ok so Western is not replying to my request to be considered for a bursary. Are there any bursaries awarded through the government of Ontario, or other places? I am quite lost with this. It seems I am not eligible for a loan from my current province, Quebec, because I would be studying in Ontario.