The Impact of Debt on Young Family Physicians: Unanswered Questions with Critical Implications

In this issue, Bazemore et al demonstrate that 58% of graduating family medicine residents have more than $150,000 of educational debt, and 26% have more than $250,000 debt.1 This is important because although the debt levels of graduating US medical students are well documented, little is known about the debt of residents and practicing physicians. Unlike residents-in-training before 2007, the studied residents were not able to defer repayment during their residency training; most entered forbearance and accumulated interest on their loans without a federal subsidy. Most will repay their unsubsidized loans—any amount above $65,000—with an approximately 6% interest rate; many also have additional federal or private loans with higher rates.