Resident Other

Here’s a question that reader e-mailed me the other day:

I came across your website when I was searching on-line to find out more information about the effects on mortgage situations for future spouses of med students. I am planning to attend med school starting August, and my boyfriend and I are concerned that my financial situation with high med school debts will affect his mortgage situation when we decide to get married. He just bought a house a couple of months ago. And, since I will not be working during med school in addition to accruing high debts, do you know whether his mortgage loans will be affected by my financial situation when we decide to get married? He thinks that my school debts will be counted as his liability once we get married, and his home loans from the bank might be affected adversely since his income will be the sole income since my loans will not count as income. Any thoughts or advice?

I really appreciate your question and I think it’s good you’re considering how your medical school career will affect your (possible) future spouse. Before I answer your question, I have to say that I am not a financial planner or a mortgage expert. I will try to address what I understand about your situation but you should use additional sources of information to make your decision since I don’t actually own a home yet, either. Alas, my answer to your question: I don’t think your boyfriend needs to worry about your debt affecting his mortgage. Read more…

Filed under: finances, housing, medical school | 1 Comment »

Happy New Year to all!!

Thanks for sticking with me through the holiday season, and beyond.  I’ve been busy with some transitions happening at the beginning of the year and haven’t quite as much time as I’d like to devote to posting.  In the spirit of addressing issues that will make use of the most impact to the readers of this blog I ask you:  What would you like me to discuss in this blog?  It can be anything that you have been wondering about being married during residency (or med school for that matter).  It can be tips on how to navigate those residency interviews as a spouse, etc. I’ve had many posts started and on queue on a range of topics, but I’d like to focus on the ones my readers are interested in.   You can post it as a comment here or e-mail me at residentother<at>gmail<dot>com. 

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I just wanted to point out a new link that I’ve placed on the sidebar to the right:

ResidentSwap: Dr. Michael K. let me know about this great service that assists those residents who are looking to change programs. There are three modes: open positions, direct swap, or “together anywhere”. As you can probably tell, you can either find direct open positions for programs posted by the actual programs looking for residents, find someone with whom you can swap positions or (the most interesting option for two-resident couples) have the service find programs near a significant other who is at another program and let you know when positions become open so you can be geographically close. So, if you know anyone looking for any of these options, residentswap is an excellent resource.

Filed under: residency, tips | No Comments »

I’m not as comfortable talking about Christmas shopping before December as I would have thought but here it goes:

My family is doing a little belt tightening this year for Christmas and many of you probably are too. Even if you and your medical spouse are super busy, it’s good to be reminded that it’s not that shiny new gadget that will make you or them any happier. They work long hours and we sometimes joke that they are being worked like slaves. Unfortunately there are people in the world who work just as many hours or earn much, much less or work in more dangerous conditions (as the NY Times reminds us today with “New York manholes Covers, Forged barefoot in India“). Thus, with the Black Friday and Cyber Monday hoopla (almost) gone, I would like to pass on to you an Alternative Shopping Guide list that a friend of mine sent me and it’s too bad I can’t recognize who she is. I started to go through each of the links below and it really reminded me that there individuals like us who are trying to work very hard out of much more dire situation. I don’t claim to have ever bought anything from the links below, but I hope to this year and in years to come.

Read more…

Filed under: challenge, off topic, tips | 2 Comments »

I hope all of you have a good Thanksgiving today. I know I don’t often take time to think about all for which I should be thankful. Like many of you today, I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family without my wife as she is on call overnight. I know I can linger on the thought that she won’t be joining us today and get upset with the situation, but I honestly feel thankful to God that we are in the city we are, with great friends and family, in the residency program that my wife chose as her top choice, geographically close to both of our families, and earning two incomes. Plus, she has Christmas off so it’s a good trade.

[edit] Here’s an idea from the New York Times: Let Us Give Thanks. In writing.

Filed under: general, on call | No Comments »

So here’s the Money Magazine article I spoke about:

Young Doctors in Debt. 

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Money magazine’s latest print issue (sorry I could not find the article online) has an interesting article by George Mannes about a young doctor couple that is under more than $700,000 in debt (school, med school and mortgage) and expecting a child.  Although most of us only have one medical doctor in the marriage, if you’re like my wife and I, you probably have your own college debt above their colossal medical school debt.   You might want to read it if you happen to get a copy of the magazine in your hands.

I thought it was an iteresting look into the life of residents who make $50K or less and basically start life with a net worth of at least -$450K in their case.  The article notes that in 1996 the average education debt of a medical school grad was $96,500 while for 2006 it rose to $130,500.  I don’t think I have to tell you how ridiculous this amount is because you are living it like we are.  It is obvious in the article that the couple is making a great number of sacrifices.  How is any person expected to attain that much debt (87% of medical students do according to the article) and still be expected to be in it for the good of humanity — for the sake of helping people?  With the cost of medical school and the small resident salaries, one must go into it thinking that it is an investment and accept the pressure to choose high-paying specialties in order to make the money and the effort worth it.  No wonder primary care specialties are mortally wounded.   To amass $130K in debt and only earn $40K as a doctor? no thanks.  I know I’m not the first and hopefully not the last to rant on this issue.

The article does point out a couple of interesting strategies which are specific to the highlighted couple and may not apply to you.  First, the magazine’s financial advisors say the couple should stop putting money away for retirement. Yes, folks, that’s right.  But they have a good point:  Since they are so short on cash for child care, debt repayment and life insurance it is ok to temporarily put a stop on retirement savings.   I know retirement planning is a big thing for us right now since I had a late start to my career and I keep trying to “catch up” on my retirement savings.  But as my wife’s med school loans are about to come off grace period, putting off retirement for a few months might be a good idea.

Read more…

Filed under: general | 1 Comment »