Hello there dear readers, I am still here. I hope everyone has had a joyous holiday season and they are recovering from the festivities of new years day.
I have not blogged recently because my schedule has been very busy lately and I have been very, very tired. I was on the general medical floors the past month and therefor was on call every 4th day and trying to recover in between. But this month, I will be on Gyn so I have a little more time.
Well, things are going really well. I submitted a grant for a research project that I am going to do and I am working on a Quality Improvement project as well. Both of these are required for the program but it is still a good thing for the resume. So the plan is kind of changing with recent financial burdens.
One thing that you need to remember, if you are about to start this journey or are thinking about this journey is that once you are done with medical school, things do not necessarily get easier. they get more complicated. You need to contact your lenders to see if you can have a deferrment of a forebearance. The number of loans you have are now very limited and while you do not have to have your school certify your loan, you really need to think about a residency loan early on. What do I mean? Well, since you only have about 6 months after your graduate to apply for these loans, you may not know that you need it until the 6 months are either almost up or are already over. Then, you are in a bit of a lurch. You need to start cutting things. But how do you know where your money is going? I mean there is not enough time to keep a diary or even write things down?
Good point, however there are software out there like MS Money and IBank for Mac that are very helpful. We were able to find the areas where we could and probably should cut. Now it is just a matter to wait and see to determine if these cuts are helping. It is also a good idea to tap into family. These are people that you can create an IOU and discuss terms such as no interest and even a payback policy where you start a plan after you are done with residency and/or fellowship and start making a normal salary.
We have also decided to go see a financial planner and look at what we can do to not only save more but to get through this rough patch.
Well done for now. One of my resolutions is to blog more often, so come back and see if I keep that resolution.
