Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
J Surg Educ. 2013 Jan-Feb;70(1):2-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2012.08.004. Epub 2012 Sep 18.
The cost associated with becoming a physician is significant, and studies have shown that surgeons, in particular, accrue higher debts than matched controls from other specialties, and the public. These findings, along with the current era of economic turmoil, prompted our investigation into the effects of educational debt on the career, family and lifestyle choices of recently graduated surgeons. Our goal was to query young surgical faculty about the education debt carried, the burden it presents as they embark on a career, and the financial management strategies employed to pay down their debt.
This study is a one-time, cross-sectional survey of regular and adjunct faculty from the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic-Rochester. Participation was voluntary and responses were collected anonymously via SurveyMonkey. Respondents were sorted into two groups: those with and without education debt at the time of residency graduation. We compared these groups on a number of variables.
Of the 111 respondents (111/152, 73% response rate), 69 (62.2%) carried debt at the time of graduation from residency. The median educational debt at graduation was $100,000, and surgeons with educational debt carried a significantly higher burden of consumer and total debt than those without educational debt at graduation (p < 0.001). This continued after graduation with 74% (51/69) of residents with debt at graduation falling below the benchmark 36% debt-to-income ratio, and 45% (17/32) of those without debt at graduation in this same high risk financial situation.
Educational debt places a large financial responsibility on the shoulders of most newer faculty. The debt-to-income ratio demonstrated through our results was considerable for both study groups, and unwise according to financial literature. This is of utmost importance to leaders in academe, as salaries are generally lower than private practice colleagues. This can begin in residency with explicit and practical information on surgeon reimbursement, income ranges, and revenue sources (faculty, clinical), debt repayment strategies, and overall training on financial matters early in their residency.
成为一名医生的成本是巨大的，研究表明，外科医生，尤其是比其他专业和公众的匹配对照组积累了更高的债务。这些发现，再加上当前经济动荡的时代，促使我们调查教育债务对最近毕业的外科医生的职业、家庭和生活方式选择的影响。我们的目标是询问年轻的外科教员他们所承担的教育债务、在开始职业生涯时所带来的负担，以及他们用来偿还债务的财务管理策略。
这是一项对明尼苏达大学和梅奥诊所-罗切斯特分校的普通和兼职教员进行的一次性横断面调查。参与是自愿的，通过 SurveyMonkey 匿名收集回复。受访者被分为两组：在住院医师毕业时有和没有教育债务的人。我们在许多变量上比较了这两组。
在 111 名受访者（111/152，73%的回复率）中，69 人（62.2%）在住院医师毕业时有债务。毕业时的教育债务中位数为 10 万美元，有教育债务的外科医生比毕业时没有教育债务的外科医生背负着更高的消费债务和总债务负担（p < 0.001）。毕业后这种情况仍在继续，69 名毕业时有债务的住院医师中，有 74%（51/69）的人债务收入比低于 36%的基准线，而在毕业时没有债务的 32 人中，有 45%（17/32）的人处于同样的高风险财务状况。
教育债务给大多数新教员带来了巨大的经济责任。我们的研究结果显示，两组的债务收入比都相当大，根据财务文献，这是不明智的。这对外科医生学术领域的领导者来说至关重要，因为他们的工资通常低于私人执业的同事。这可以从住院医师开始，明确并实际地向他们提供外科医生的报酬、收入范围和收入来源（教员、临床）、债务偿还策略以及在住院医师期间尽早进行的整体财务事项培训。
