Committing to a specialty early in med school?

[futurefamilydoc]

The region where I live has recently come out with a program, where if a current medical student agrees to go into family medicine and then run a family practice there for at least 3 years after being licensed, they can apply for a special scholarship. The amount they are offering is pretty substantial, around 25k/year for up to 6 years.

 

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with these sorts of programs, and what people's opinion is on committing to a specialty early on in their medical education to obtain funding for their schooling.

[future_doc]

You limit your options for short term gain when you may live to regret it. Moreover, financing one's tuition and living expenses is no problem with the LOC, nor is paying back. It is a lifetime decision and not worth it for the little financial advantage for a short period of time.

[ellorie]

I was accepted to a combined BSc/MD program when I was 18 that required you to sign a contract stating that you agreed to go into primary care. I turned it down despite being pretty sure I wanted to practice a primary care specialty (which in the US includes more than family medicine), and I don't regret doing so.

 

I think that it's probably not worth it for most people. The debt of medical education is nothing to take lightly, but neither is the career you choose for the rest of your life - both in terms of specialty and location.

[tooty]

What's the penalty for reneging? I imagine you'd have to pay everything back + interest. I'd go for it if I had a strong desire for FM and if the interest on the payback is close to prime.

[Birdy]

Not in this position myself, but my provincial government just launched a program similar to the one you are describing. Med students sign on in second year, receive a signing bonus and sponsorship through clerkship and FM residency. Agreement is five years in rural practice, location to be decided by the province.

 

They couldn't find enough people who would take them up on it because it's hard to be sure in pre-clerkship what specialty one wants, and the match (by which point they'd have already received $90k) is not a guaranteed thing. If, for whatever reason, the candidate didn't match to FM they'd be on the hook for a huge amount of money, before their career even starts.

 

Those are the concerns that med students presented which is why the province changed the program.

 

Definitely points to consider if you're thinking of an agreement like that.

[BigM]

Also keep in mind what this could do to your other funding sources. It would make you ineligible for any bursaries and would substantially diminish your provincial loan, which portions can often be forgiven. Between those two things you could be missing out of thousands of dollars.

[thebouque]

I didn't know that Canada was becoming soviet Russia. I would tell them to shove the contract up their a** and to stop insulting future physicians with ridiculous and degrading offers.

[NLengr]

Wait till you match before you go committing to any contracts that will limit your choice of specialty. You don't want to sign on to do a specialty until you are sure you will like it as a career. As a med student it's hard to make that commitment. I'd guess at least 50% of people change what they want to do during med school.

 

Once you are matched, you can go nuts with signing ROS contracts if it suits you.

[tooty]

What's the range of compensation rates for ROS contracts in family medicine these days?

[BoyInTheBubble]

What's the range of compensation rates for ROS contracts in family medicine these days?

 

You negotiate your own contract the same as everyone else. Doesn't matter if it's clinic based, salary, or some mixed funding model. The only thing they care about is where. For Ontario, that used to be somewhere on the "LADAU list" (list of areas deemed under serviced....or something like that) but now it is almost anywhere except the greater Toronto Area and the greater Ottawa area.

 

You are still eligible for bonuses from the community or whatever.

 

I think they have some vague description of what qualifies as "full time" work which is obviously extremely variable among practicing physicians.

[tooty]

Have you heard of any numbers thrown around? Is a 150k bonus for 3 years in a small community any good?

[NLengr]

What's the range of compensation rates for ROS contracts in family medicine these days?

 

NL offers 25k for each year of ROS. You have to be matched to family already though. And you have to agree to work in an under serviced area but you can pick from a list of areas.

[medigeek]

The job market is pretty bad for most specialties and pretty much all of surgery (except general surgery in smaller cities, ex. north bay).

If you're fine with doing fellowships/extra training or doing something like filling in for surgeons on vacation... ultimately not having a full time job for quite some time, then you certainly have a diverse set of options.

 

If you want to have good prospects, your residency options are fairly limited. Something to also keep in mind.

[Hockeynut]

Have you heard of any numbers thrown around? Is a 150k bonus for 3 years in a small community any good?

 

Not bad albeit not great. Let me prephase what I'm about to say with I'm not a med student yet (currently finishing up my UG). I'm from a smaller town in Northern Ontario and I was talking to the head of HR. She proceeded to explain, and try to recruit me yes before I was in med school, by telling me about the retention bonus'. I'm not supposed give specifics but it was very near $100000/year!

[BoyInTheBubble]

Have you heard of any numbers thrown around? Is a 150k bonus for 3 years in a small community any good?

 

Do you mean, is it the highest bonus out there?!

 

Obviously getting 150k in addition to your billings is FFFing great. Abracadabra and your LOC is gone!

[BoyInTheBubble]

Not bad albeit not great. Let me prephase what I'm about to say with I'm not a med student yet (currently finishing up my UG). I'm from a smaller town in Northern Ontario and I was talking to the head of HR. She proceeded to explain, and try to recruit me yes before I was in med school, by telling me about the retention bonus'. I'm not supposed give specifics but it was very near $100000/year!

 

No way. 150k over 3 years is higher than average that I've heard of. Until I see the documents in front of me, I don't believe any community offers 100k/yr.

 

Plus in 6 years (or more pending your residency choice) the bonuses are likely to drop significantly, or disappear, as the 'shortage' of doctors decreases.

[tooty]

OP, does this scholarship of $25k per year for 6 years include the 4 years you're in med school?

[Hockeynut]

No way. 150k over 3 years is higher than average that I've heard of. Until I see the documents in front of me, I don't believe any community offers 100k/yr.

 

Plus in 6 years (or more pending your residency choice) the bonuses are likely to drop significantly, or disappear, as the 'shortage' of doctors decreases.

 

 

Do note that it is a retention bonus so you only receive this level after staying for 5 years. Beyond that you also have to be a specialist, the bonus for family med is nowhere near as high.

[futurefamilydoc]

OP, does this scholarship of $25k per year for 6 years include the 4 years you're in med school?

 

It's up to 6 years during your study period, which accounts for your 4 years of med school and 2 years of residency. So if you decided to take it starting in your 4th year of med school, you would only get the scholarship for 3 years, and so on. And you have to be accepted into a Canadian medical school to apply for it.

[tooty]

What's the penalty for reneging? How much interest?

[futurefamilydoc]

I'm not sure what the penalty is as most of those details are not posted publicly; I would have to speak with the person that manages the program, which I have not done yet.

[BoyInTheBubble]

Do note that it is a retention bonus so you only receive this level after staying for 5 years. Beyond that you also have to be a specialist, the bonus for family med is nowhere near as high.

 

All the retention bonuses I've seen pay some portion yearly. Some are even per year and some are backloaded (10% first year, 20% second year, etc). Ontario's NRRR Incentive is paid out 1/3 first year, 1/6 second and third, 1/3 fourth year.

 

Repayment is generally prorated to the unfilled portion of your commitment. Work half the time, get half the bonus.