@Opus 17 well written as always.
The other thing that has to be considered is that most doctors make a TON of money post residency, so the monthly debt burden isn't that large compared to their incomes. Unlike many others who pile on debt during graduate school, this class (physicians) do make 100s of thousands of dollars as soon as they complete residency and the monthly required payments under the PSLF program are capped at the fully amoritizing 10 year payment. For most other professions that monthly debt burden is quite high once the student enters the work force because their income doesn't skyrocket like a physician's will.
I appreciate student loan repayments are in the news a lot as a real pain for many, but for those eligible for PSLF can really come out as real winners - much better return than liquidating an IRA to pay for it.
