Paying off college or medical school loans is the third largest debt or expense physicians have — behind mortgages or residence costs and car loan payments — according to Medscape's 2015 report on physician compensation, debt and net worth.
More than one-third of physicians in the following specialties are still paying off student loans:
- Emergency physicians — 37 percent are still paying off school loans
- Critical care intensivists — 35 percent
- Family medicine physicians — 34 percent
- Dermatologists — 34 percent
The physicians least likely to still be paying off their school loans are:
- Pulmonologists — 16 percent
- Gastroenterologists — 17 percent
- Rheumatologists — 20 percent
- Urologists — 20 percent
- HIV/infectious disease specialists — 20 percent
The Medscape report includes responses from more than 19,500 physicians across 26 specialties.