Resolution: S-21-09: ESTABLISHING SUPPORT FOR REDUCING MEDICAL STUDENT FINANCIAL BURDEN

[Valerie Lile]

WHEREAS, the average debt of a medical school graduate is $200,000-$250,000 with a 6.25% average interest rate³; and

WHEREAS, a rising number of students require loans in addition to the Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loan allotments, including Graduate Plus Loans with a fixed rate of 7.9%¹; and

WHEREAS, a study of 136,232 physicians who graduated from allopathic US medical schools between 1988 and 2000 found that graduates with more debt were less likely to practice primary care or family medicine, thus contributing to the primary care physician shortage⁴; and

WHEREAS, graduates from low-income families are more likely to choose a specialty based on debt⁴; and

WHEREAS, a study of 3,023 postgraduate medical student found that every $50,000 increase in medical student loan debt was positively correlated with an increased level of self-reported stress⁵; and

WHEREAS, there are a plethora of ways in which the problem of reducing medical student financial burden can be approached such as introducing graduate subsidized loans, increasing tax deductions for repaid interest, introducing tax credit for interest repaid, reducing income-driven repayments, student loan forgiveness, and reducing unsubsidized loan interest rates for example; and

WHEREAS, the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) advocate for medical students and physicians to reduce their financial burden and increase access to medical education². However, SOMA has no written policy explicitly stating support in reducing medical student financial burden nor specifically stating which policies SOMA stands in favor of or against; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the SOMA adopt resolutions clarifying which proposed policies they stand in support of or stand against regarding reducing the medical student financial burden.

References

1. Craft, J., & Craft, T. P. (2012). Rising Medical Education Debt a Mounting Concern. Missouri Medicine – Perspective, 109(4), 266-270.
2. Federal Advocacy Initiatives. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2021, from https://osteopathic.org/about/advocacy/federal-advocacy-initiatives/
3. Hanson, M. (2021, January 14). Average Medical School Debt [2021]: Student Loan Statistics. Retrieved January 15, 2021, from https://educationdata.org/average-medical-school-debt#:~:text=This%20year%27s%20medical%20school%20graduates,educational%20debt%2C%20premedical%20debt%20included
4. Phillips, J. P., Petterson, S. M., Bazemore, A. W., & Phillips, R. L. (2014). A Retrospective Analysis of the Relationship Between Medical Student Debt and Primary Care Practice in the United States. The Annals of Family Medicine, 12(6), 542-549. doi:10.1370/afm.1697
5. Pisaniello, M. S., Asahina, A. T., Bacchi, S., Wagner, M., Perry, S. W., Wong, M., & Licinio, J. (2019). Effect of medical student debt on mental health, academic performance and specialty choice: A systematic review. BMJ Open, 9(7). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029980

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Submitted by:

Joshua Berko, OMS III – Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
Gregory Kunis, OMS III – Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
Gregory Santos, OMS III – Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
Jessica Kerpez, OMS III – Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine
Zehra Rizvi, OMS I – Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Action Taken:

Date:

Effective Time Period: Ongoing

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