The short answer is yes. But we understand why this is not as obvious as it sounds.
When you are living on loan disbursements and money is already stretched thin, the idea of setting some aside specifically to not touch feels almost counterintuitive. Every dollar you save is a dollar borrowed at interest. So why not just use a credit card if something comes up, and deal with it then?
We asked ourselves the same question. Here is what we found.
What an Emergency Fund Actually Is
An emergency fund is a small amount of money kept in a separate, easily accessible account that you only touch when something genuinely unexpected comes up — a medical expense, a laptop dying before an important exam, a car repair, an unexpected flight home. [1]
It is not an investment. It is not a savings goal. It is a buffer between you and the kind of situation that forces you to make a bad financial decision quickly. The goal is not to grow the money. The goal is to have it there when you need it.
Why It Matters More Than People Think
The problem with not having an emergency fund is not the emergency itself — it is what you are forced to do when one hits without any buffer.
For most medical students, the realistic options are: put it on a credit card, borrow from family, or scramble to find it somewhere else in your budget. The credit card option is the most common, and it is also the most expensive. Credit card interest rates sit around 20% on average, which means that a €500 or $500 unexpected expense that sits on a card for a few months becomes meaningfully more expensive than it needed to be. [2]
Having even a small amount set aside removes that pressure entirely. You handle the situation, you replenish the fund over the next few months, and it costs you nothing in interest. That is a better outcome in almost every scenario.
But I Am Already Borrowing Money to Live
This is the most common pushback, and it is a fair one.
The logic goes: if my living expenses are already covered by loans, then saving money is really just borrowing money to save. And that does not make sense.
Here is how we think about it. The alternative to having an emergency fund is relying on credit cards or additional borrowing when something goes wrong — both of which carry higher interest rates than student loans. [3] So in a way, maintaining a small emergency fund is actually a form of debt protection. It prevents you from taking on more expensive debt in a moment of stress.
You do not need a lot to start. Even €500 or $500 makes a real difference. Most financial guidance aimed specifically at doctors acknowledges that having any amount saved — even a small amount — is far better than having nothing at all. [3]
How Much Should You Aim For
The standard advice is three to six months of living expenses. [1] For a medical student, that is probably not realistic right now, and that is fine. The three to six month figure is a goal for later in your career, not a prerequisite for starting.
As a student, a more realistic target is one month of core expenses — rent, groceries, utilities, transport — as a starting point. For most of us studying in Ireland, that comes to somewhere in the range of €1,000 to €1,500. In the US, it will vary considerably by city and cost of living. [4]
Start with whatever you can manage. Even €200 or $200 is better than zero. Build it up slowly over time, and treat it as a floor rather than a ceiling.
Where to Keep It
The most important thing is that the money is easy to access when you actually need it. This is not the place for investments or anything with withdrawal restrictions. [1]
A separate savings account works well — ideally one that is not your everyday checking account, so the money is not sitting there tempting you on a regular basis. Some people find it helpful to open the account at a different bank from their main account so there is a small amount of friction before accessing it.
It does not need to earn significant interest, though a basic savings account is better than keeping cash somewhere with zero return.
A Note on Timing
We know that as medical students there are periods where saving anything extra is genuinely not possible — heavy exam blocks, expensive rotations, unexpected costs that eat into the budget. That is completely understandable.
The goal is not to build your emergency fund all at once. It is to treat it as a consistent, low-pressure priority in the background. When you have a slightly lighter month, put a small amount in. When something comes up and you use it, replenish it gradually when you can. Over time, even small consistent contributions add up.
The students we think benefit most from starting this habit early are not necessarily the ones who end up with the largest fund during medical school — it is the ones who carry the habit into residency and beyond, when the stakes are higher and the financial decisions are more complex.
The Bottom Line
Yes, medical students should start an emergency fund. Not a large one, not immediately, and not at the expense of covering your actual living costs. But a small buffer — even a few hundred euros or dollars — changes the financial picture meaningfully when something unexpected happens.
The alternative is a credit card at 20% interest, or a phone call asking someone else for money, or a period of genuine financial stress on top of everything else medical school already demands. A small emergency fund does not eliminate financial stress entirely. But it removes one of the most common triggers for it.
We are both working toward this ourselves. It is one of those things that seems minor until you actually need it, and then it feels like the best decision you ever made.
References
- KeyBank. (2026). How much doctors should save for an emergency fund. https://doctors.key.com/healthcare-banking/how-much-doctors-should-save-for-an-emergency-fund/
- AAMC Students & Residents. (n.d.). Dealing with unexpected expenses as a medical student. https://students-residents.aamc.org/medical-student-well-being/dealing-unexpected-expenses-medical-student
- Panacea Financial. (2023). A doctor’s guide to building an emergency fund. https://panaceafinancial.com/resources/a-doctors-guide-to-building-a-emergency-fund/
- Doc2Doc Lending. (2025). Financial planning tips for incoming medical residents. https://www.doc2doclending.com/blog/financial-planning-tips-for-incoming-medical-residents/