| Getting through med school and residency is hard | | | | thirty-two student loans taken throughout their |
| enough without worrying about paying your academic | | | | academic career! Consolidating these loans into one is |
| debt. Luckily there is a lot of student loan help for | | | | the only way to manage them effectively without |
| med students. You just have to know your options. | | | | going broke. |
| You may think that your credit is ruined by your | | | | Another option you may not know about is economic |
| student loans, especially if they are in default. You'll | | | | deferment. Getting through med school was tough, |
| never get a new loan, right? Wrong. Student loan | | | | but residency doesn't pay much, and even with |
| help is not just for those with good credit. In fact, | | | | roommates expenses can be tough. If you are like |
| many lending institutions will work with you without | | | | most med school graduates, you know how hard it |
| running a credit check at all. | | | | can be to make ends meet while trying to pay off |
| One option is to refinance your student loans. This | | | | the mountains of loans taken out to get through |
| type of student loan help is much more available than | | | | school in the first place. |
| you might, and requires little or no qualification. There | | | | An economic deferment may be available based on |
| are many reasons to consolidate your loans. | | | | your financial situation. This allows you to wait six |
| Consolidating your loans does three things for you. | | | | months to one year before you must start paying on |
| First, it may buy you a month before you have to | | | | your loans. It will allow you time to get through that |
| make another payment. Second, it can often lower | | | | first bit of financial hardship that you go through |
| your interest rate, especially if you got fixed rate | | | | after graduation. |
| loans while rates were high. Finally, by having only one | | | | Typically, you can only qualify for an economic |
| loan you can save money by avoiding costly finance | | | | deferment if your expenses are equal to or more |
| charges on each individual loan. | | | | than your income. For this reason, this type of |
| For many people, loan consolidation is the only way | | | | student loan help for med students is generally limited |
| they can manage their academic debt. Med students | | | | to those who have already started their families, or |
| especially have problems with paying on as many as | | | | those who must support existing families. |