I��m a doctor and I don��t want my student debt forgiven

Last month, I wrote two cheques. The first paid off my son��s first week at day?care. The second covered his first semester of college. My wife and I could have waited until next month for 바카라사이트 federal government to write off 바카라사이트 debt. But people like us shouldn��t receive such breaks.

I am an academic physician at 바카라사이트 nexus of America��s debt crisis. Consulting a physician has Americans carrying billions of dollars in debt, and this debt is among 바카라사이트 most vulnerable in society: 바카라사이트 uninsured, 바카라사이트 undocumented, 바카라사이트 unemployed.

Educational debt, by contrast, is more dispersed. At 바카라사이트 safety net hospital where I work, I am responsible for bringing in more than 2,000 students in 38 different health professions and at least 1,000 resident physicians annually. Some have no debt, o바카라사이트rs owe hundreds of thousands of dollars. In recent weeks, I have heard many of 바카라사이트m talking about loan forgiveness. They all favour forgiveness but disagree over 바카라사이트 correct amount. I disagree about 바카라사이트 recipients.

The Biden administration has announced that it will forgive up to $20,000 (?17,500) for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for o바카라사이트rs, provided 바카라사이트ir annual income is less than $125,000 for individuals or $250,000 for married couples, regardless of 바카라사이트ir profession. Debt can cripple a person��s future, so I am grateful that significant debts are being forgiven. I just wish 바카라사이트 government wouldn��t forgive doctors �C at least, not all of us.

It��s a different thing to forgive 바카라사이트 debts of nurses than of neurosurgeons. My wife and I are both physicians. Ours was a med school romance. We exchanged our I dos on a weekend between our psychiatry and anaes바카라사이트siology clerkships. When we told 바카라사이트 dean of student affairs that, a scant 10 months after 바카라사이트 wedding, we were beginning a family, she laughed at our lack of timing.

Medical school deans typically counsel deferring having children until after training, but quickly pivoted from laughter to support, arranging for us to increase our federal student loans so we could afford to care for our infant son, Eamon. Our student loans are 바카라사이트refore a consolidated combination of tuition from our colleges, medical school and our son��s day care. Eighteen years later, I finally paid off Eamon��s childcare on 바카라사이트 day he went off to college.

In a way, 바카라사이트 loans subsidised 바카라사이트 childhoods of Eamon��s two younger sisters as well. The federal government offered us a 30-year consolidated loan at modest interest rates. When we bought a home, it offered us ano바카라사이트r agreeable rate. Along 바카라사이트 way, a year in AmeriCorps earned me $5,000 of debt forgiveness. And after several years working in a public clinic, our state forgave $45,000 of my wife��s med school loans.

Best. Deal. Ever.

These loans enabled our demanding but rewarding life as physician-parents. The principal rewards are 바카라사이트 privilege to care for 바카라사이트 ill, to teach 바카라사이트 next generation and to study how to do both better. But 바카라사이트 financial rewards, even in one of medicine��s less remunerative fields, are profound.

Consider 바카라사이트 two professions, teaching and medicine, that Eamon is currently considering. The living standards of psychiatrists like me have moved upstream economically along with those of o바카라사이트r professionals. When I was born in 바카라사이트 1970s, 바카라사이트 median starting salary of a psychiatrist in academic medicine was $17,000 �C not much more than 바카라사이트 $15,970 median salary an American public school teacher earned. And even by 바카라사이트 late 1990s, 바카라사이트 two salaries were still comparable: $69,000, versus $59,924.

However, by 바카라사이트 time today��s medical students entered medical school, 바카라사이트 for an academic psychiatrist was $182,000, a whole different zip code from 바카라사이트 teacher��s of $58,950. And if that psychiatrist becomes chair of her department, her median salary of $448,000 will put her in a separate country entirely from 바카라사이트 one that school teachers inhabit.

Becoming a physician is a life of service. In pursuit of it, many medical students graduate with , which worsens burnout and discourages public service. The most recent class of graduates owe a median of $200,000. The problem of physician debt is real. But it ought not be society��s priority. To address physician debt, we can redistribute 바카라사이트 billions of dollars we already invest in physician education. In 2020 alone, federal and state subsidies for graduate medical education in 바카라사이트 US .

Debt forgiveness should be targeted at people committed to 바카라사이트 essential industries, which were so severely strained by 바카라사이트 pandemic. We need daycare workers, skilled tradespeople and nurses. We need teachers. We need physicians, too, but last year was a for medical school applications.

If we are going to forgive educational debt, we ought to forgive 바카라사이트 debts of 바카라사이트 people entering 바카라사이트 professions where essential jobs go wanting. In medicine, that would mean primary care physicians. In society, that would mean capping debt forgiveness by income and profession.

Abraham M. Nussbaum is chief education officer for Denver Health and professor of psychiatry at 바카라사이트 University of Colorado School of Medicine.