sign of slowing down. If your dream is to become a  doctor but you’re worried about how you’ll be able  

to afford it, this video is for you. Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.

Let's cover how much it costs to attend medical  school in 2021 and the many things that you can  

do to help afford it. We’ll start by breaking down  the numbers, then go into the different financial  

resources available, and finish by discussing some  financial mistakes to avoid during medical school.

In the United States, medical school is an  expensive ordeal. The average cost of medical  

school per year is about $50,000 for public  schools and $60,000 for private schools. It  

should come as no surprise then that the average  medical student will graduate with about $240,000  

in student loans with $216,000 coming from  medical school alone. If we take it a step further  

and consider current loan interest rates and the  average amount of time it takes a physician to  

pay back their debt, the average physician will  ultimately pay between $365,000 and $440,000  

for their student loans. This is a tough pill to  swallow if you’re pursuing a career as a doctor.

In the last few years, more medical schools  with hefty endowments have fronted the cost  

of tuition for their medical students.  NYU, Kaiser Permanente, and Cleveland  

Clinic cover the cost for all medical students,  and Cornell, Washington University, Columbia,  

and UCLA cover costs for students based  on financial need or academic merit. It  

is important to note that these schools are  the exception and far from the rule. For the  

rest of U.S. medical schools, the cost of  tuition rises by about $1,500 every year.  

So not only is medical school expensive now, but  it will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

I get a lot of comments from people who believe  that they can’t pursue medicine because of the  

cost; so I want to start by setting the record  straight. You do not need to come from a wealthy  

family to attend medical school. There are  many financial resources available to help  

you afford medical school, you just need to know  what to do and where to look. That being said,  

these resources do require a bit of work on  your end to obtain, but with some extra effort,  

they can help you afford medical  school without breaking the bank.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, there  are two fundamental solutions to the problem of  

affording medical school. You can either increase  your financial resources or decrease your costs.  

Let’s start by talking about how you  can increase your financial resources.

The first resource will be the financial  aid offered through your medical school.  

Most schools will ask for your and your parent’s  financial information, even if your parents are  

not going to contribute a dime to your medical  education. Schools will use this information to  

determine which students will receive need-based  grants and scholarships or receive loans with  

better terms. Although the financial aid from  your school is a wonderful resource that can save  

you tens of thousands of dollars, it is less  in your control than the next few resources.

Next up are grants and scholarships.  These are essentially free money,  

and the best part is that you can take action  to increase your chances of receiving them.

The largest scholarships are merit-based, meaning  they are offered to well-rounded students with  

impressive MCAT scores, GPA, and applications.  Although these are quite rare to receive, the more  

desirable of an applicant you can make yourself,  the higher your chance of receiving them.

I admit, receiving these types of scholarships  and grants is much easier said than done;  

however, with a bit of perseverance and  grit, it is very much attainable. It is  

ultimately your responsibility to seek out the  resources and mentorship to help you get there.  

The videos on this YouTube channel are a good  place to start, and if you need experts who have  

done it themselves to help guide you, you can  find them on our website Medschoolinsiders.com.

Although I don’t recommend having a job  during medical school, and many medical  

schools explicitly prohibit having even a  part-time job, side hustles can be a great way  

to supplement your income during these 4 years.  If you do choose to have a side hustle though,  

it needs to be flexible and not demand a  lot of your time. There are a variety of  

side-hustles that you can choose from, but  let’s go through a couple of my favorites.

Tutoring can be a great side-hustle  as it is flexible and can help you  

reinforce material that will help you  in your own studies. For instance,  

you could tutor the incoming class in subjects  like anatomy. This is a win-win because you can  

generate income while simultaneously  reviewing the material for yourself.

Another popular side hustle is becoming  an influencer in the medical student and  

studying space. This method does take  a bit of time and effort to set up,  

but once you get it going, it doesn't  require a lot of time to maintain.  

YouTube has its strengths and weaknesses as a  platform and depending on how you want to approach  

content creation, you may find a better  fit on Instagram or TikTok instead.

There are countless other ways to  generate income during medical school,  

but the most important thing to remember  with any side-hustle is that it should not  

interfere with your studies. Medical school is  your top priority and you must treat it as such.  

If your side-hustle gets to the point that  it is impacting your studies negatively,  

you have to be prepared to cut back  or let it go completely. If you don't,  

you might just find yourself leaving plastic  surgery residency a few years down the road.

For the remainder of your expenses that  are not covered by the above methods,  

you will have to take out student loans. There  are two main categories of student loans:  

federal and private. Federal loans are almost  always better, as they have lower interest rates  

and come with special income-based payment and  forgiveness plans. You should always try to max  

out federal loans. Private loans have some of the  worst terms and should be avoided if possible.

If you’re interested in learning  more about students loans,  

check out my Student Loans 101  video which covers everything from  

the different types of loans to how  to manage them after medical school.

Now that we’ve discussed the different  ways to increase your financial resources,  

let’s look at the other side of the equation  and discuss how to decrease your expenses.

There is a lot of variation in the cost  of tuition between medical schools, so  

choosing an affordable one can save you  tens of thousands of dollars in the long  

run. At the lower end, there are medical  schools that cost less than $20,000/year.  

At the higher end, there are schools that  cost upwards of $70,000/year. Additionally,  

tuition is not the only expense that comes  along with your choice of medical school.  

The cost of living can also vary widely depending  on where your medical school is located. If you  

plan on attending medical school in California  as I did, be prepared to spend a pretty penny  

on your living expenses. There are many factors  beyond cost that you need to take into account  

when choosing a medical school; however, it  should still be a part of the conversation.

Regardless of where you choose  to go for medical school,  

there are always ways to save money and  reduce your reliance on student loans.

To start, having a roommate during medical  school can be a great way to reduce your  

monthly expenses. Don’t get me wrong, having  a roommate does have its pros and cons,  

but if you can find the right roommate, it can  actually elevate your medical school experience  

and make it that much more enjoyable. If you  live with a friend who is also in medical school,  

for instance, you two can study together and  help motivate each other to stay on track.

Next, you should learn to cook at home. Not only  is it significantly cheaper than eating out,  

but it is much healthier as well. Cooking  is also just a valuable skill that you can  

take with you for the rest of your life.  You don’t want to be the kind of person  

that tries to boil pasta without any  water. Trust me, I’ve seen it happen.

Buying and reselling textbooks, holding  off on upgrading to the latest tech,  

and steering clear of the strip club - any  way that you can reduce your expenses will  

minimize your reliance on student loans  and reduce the amount of interest that you  

have to pay back later. If you can cut back  now, your future self will surely thank you.

That being said, there is a limit to  frugality that you should be aware of.  

You can think of managing your finances in medical  school, and in life for that matter, as somewhat  

of a bell curve. You don’t want to be at either  extreme but instead somewhere in the middle.

At one extreme, you have the people that think  every purchase is just a “drop in the bucket.”  

They go out and buy the newest iPad, or  computer, or car and think to themselves,  

“I’m already taking out so much money in loans,  what’s another couple of hundred dollars here  

or there?” The issue with this mindset  is that loans have a compounding effect.  

What costs you a hundred dollars now can easily  cost you double or triple that down the road.

At the other extreme, you have the  people that are so concerned about  

saving every penny that they make themselves  miserable. I know we’ve talked about choosing  

a medical school that is affordable or  cutting back on your monthly expenses,  

but if those choices make you miserable then  they are likely not worth the cost savings.

If going to school in California lets  you stay closer to family and friends  

and you genuinely enjoy living there,  then the cost savings should not stop you.  

Additionally, if your $4 pumpkin spice latte  from Starbucks brings you joy in the morning  

then go ahead and get it - no matter  what Graham Stephan tells you. Living  

frugally during medical school is about being  conscious of what you’re spending your money on,  

not spending so little that you suck  every last bit of joy out of your life.

I’m not trying to scare or discourage you with  everything we’ve discussed in this video but to  

be realistic with you about the financial side  of medical school. That’s what we’re about at  

Med School Insiders. We want you to be the most  well-informed, stellar applicant you can be.

While it’s impossible to guarantee merit-based  scholarships, there are multiple advisors on  

MedSchoolInsiders.com, including myself that have  earned sizable scholarships or even full-rides to  

medical school and have helped other students  earn them too. These are real doctors who were  

top performers that can show you exactly how they  did it. If you want to be a stellar applicant and  

receive one-on-one advising, tutoring, interview  preparation, personal statement or secondary  

editing, mentorship, or any of the other services  we offer, visit MedSchoolInsiders.com. Our  

services can help you become the kind of applicant  that medical schools pay to attend their school.

Thank you all so much for watching.  If you enjoyed this video,  

be sure to check out my videos on Medical  Student Financial Advice - The Good,  

Bad, & Useless as well as my video on Student  Loans 101. Much love and I’ll see you there.