RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDEBTEDNESS AND THE SPECIALTY CHOICES OF GRADUATING MEDICAL STUDENTS

Analysis of data from the 1992 GQ has shown that educational debt was not a factor significantly influencing most graduates' specialty choices . . . As a strong or major influence, debt affected the specialty choices of only 6.2% of the 1992 graduates who had decided on a specialty. However, for students with debts of $75,000 or more, debt became more important, having a strong or major influence on the choices of surgical (13.9%) and support (20.3%) specialties. Although the effects of debt on specialty choice were found to be small . . . it is disturbing to note that over 20% of medical school graduates have such levels of indebtedness. Length of residency training, as a factor affecting specialty choice, generally was a strong or major influence for only 9.0% of respondents. However, this number increased to 20.5% for respondents with debts of $75,000 or more who planned generalist specialty certification, suggesting that high debt turned students toward, as well as away from, the generalist specialties.