SoFi Blog

Today represents a huge milestone for tens of thousands of medical students about to embark on the next stage of their medical careers: Match Day. If you’re a resident, we know you’ve been anxiously counting down the days. And if you’re friends with a 4th year medical or dental school student, we know you’ve been dealing with their anxiety. And hopefully for both of you, today is a huge relief.

We here at SoFi wish a hearty congratulations to all soon-to-be residents who have spent many sleepless nights in the library, crisscrossed the country interviewing, and are readying yourselves to become our next generation of health-care providers.

It’s no secret that the average doctor is saddled with tons of student loan debt when starting practice. In fact, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average doctor graduates medical school with $190,000 in student loans—6x the national average.

Having a strategy to quickly and efficiently pay down your student loans is critical to long-term financial success, so we’ve put together a few personal finance tips and tricks for doctors to help them pay down student loans faster in 2017. These tips are relevant to all doctors, regardless of specialty or income.

Most people think that doctors have it pretty easy when it comes to paying off medical student loans. Sure, they rack up six figures worth of student debt—but their outsized salaries should help them decimate those loans in no time (not to mention set them up for life).

However, if you’re a doctor, you know the reality of having medical school loans is more complicated than people might think. For one thing, you don’t start making “student loan payoff money” until you’re out of residency, which—depending on your focus—can take 3, 4, 5, even 10 years. During that time you have to juggle a big student loan balance with a relatively small paycheck, learn the nuances of various medical school loan repayment programs, and stay on top of changing student loan legislation that can impact your payments or potential student loan forgiveness.