When we started medical school, we knew we were taking on debt. What we did not fully appreciate was just how much, or what that number actually means for your life once you graduate.
Most people have a vague sense that medical school is expensive. But the specific numbers are worth looking at directly, because they have real implications for the financial decisions you will make throughout your entire career. Here is what the data actually shows.
The Average Numbers
According to the most recent data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average medical school graduate in the Class of 2025 finished with around $223,000 in total education debt. [1] When you include undergraduate loans on top of that, the number climbs closer to $250,000 for many graduates. [2]
That average, though, hides a lot of variation. About 23% of indebted graduates from the Class of 2024 owed $300,000 or more, while another third owed somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000. [3] At some private schools, the average debt at graduation exceeds $300,000. [4]
Private school graduates tend to carry more debt than public school graduates — around $245,000 compared to $210,000 on average for the Class of 2025. [1] But it is not always straightforward, because private schools sometimes have larger endowments and can offer more institutional aid that offsets some of the higher tuition costs.
What Happens to That Debt During Residency
Here is a part that catches a lot of people off guard.
The debt does not pause while you are in residency. Interest keeps accruing on your loans throughout training, and if you are on an income-driven repayment plan — which many residents need to be, given that the average resident salary is around $68,000 [1] — you are often not paying enough to cover the interest each month. That means your balance can actually grow during residency even while you are making payments.
A three-year residency with income-driven repayments can leave a doctor with significantly more debt than they had at graduation, before they have even started as an attending. [5] For residents in longer programs — surgery, for example — that effect is even more pronounced.
How Long Does It Take to Pay It Off
This is probably the question that worries people the most, and the honest answer is: it depends a lot on what you do about it.
On a standard ten-year repayment plan, monthly payments on $200,000 in debt can run between $2,000 and $3,500. [5] Most residents cannot manage that on a resident salary, which is why many defer to income-driven plans during training and then accelerate repayment once they are attending physicians.
For doctors who are aggressive about repayment after residency, paying off loans in under ten years is achievable. For those who stretch it out or rely on income-driven plans without pursuing forgiveness, repayment can take twenty years or more. Most physicians end up somewhere in between, typically becoming debt-free sometime in their late thirties or early forties. [6]
Public Service Loan Forgiveness is worth mentioning here. Doctors who work for qualifying nonprofit hospitals or academic medical centres and make ten years of qualifying payments can have their remaining balance forgiven. [5] About 65% of 2025 medical graduates reported intending to pursue some form of federal loan forgiveness, with the majority planning to apply for PSLF. [3] Whether that remains a reliable strategy given ongoing policy changes is something worth keeping a close eye on.
What This Actually Means for You
The debt numbers in medicine are large, but they are not unmanageable — provided you understand them and have a plan.
A few things stand out to us when we look at this data. First, the school you choose matters. A $100,000 difference in total debt between two schools is not a small number. That gap compounds with interest over years of training and early career, and it can meaningfully affect what your financial life looks like for a decade or more after graduation.
Second, what you do during residency matters more than most residents realize. Making even interest-only payments during training can prevent your balance from growing and put you in a much better position when attending salaries kick in. [5]
Third, understanding your repayment options before you graduate — not after — gives you the best chance of making the right call. Income-driven repayment, PSLF, and refinancing all have tradeoffs, and choosing the wrong one for your situation can cost you significantly.
We are still in training ourselves, so we are not in a position to tell you exactly what to do with your loans. But knowing what the numbers actually look like, and thinking about them early, feels like the right place to start.
The Bottom Line
Most doctors graduate with somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000 in total education debt, and that number can grow during residency before repayment really begins. For many physicians, student loans are a financial reality well into their thirties and forties.
None of that means medicine is a bad financial decision — it clearly is not for most people. But going in with a clear picture of what you are taking on, and thinking early about how you will handle it, makes the whole thing a lot less daunting.
References
- Credible. (2026, February 26). Average medical school debt: How much doctors owe. https://www.credible.com/refinance-student-loans/average-medical-school-debt
- KeyBank. (2026). What is the average medical school debt? https://doctors.key.com/healthcare-banking/what-is-the-average-medical-school-debt/
- Education Data Initiative. (2025, September 14). Average medical school debt [2025]: Student loan statistics. https://educationdata.org/average-medical-school-debt
- Becker’s Hospital Review. (2025, July 24). 10 medical schools where graduates incur the most, least debt: 2025. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/rankings-and-ratings/10-medical-schools-where-graduates-incur-the-most-least-debt-2025/
- PracticeLink. (2025). Average medical school debt monthly payment. https://www.practicelink.com/resource-center/physician-student-loans/average-medical-school-debt-monthly-payment/
- PracticeLink. (2025). How long does it normally take to pay off medical school debt? https://www.practicelink.com/resource-center/physician-student-loans/how-long-does-it-normally-take-to-pay-off-medical-school-debt/