How long would it take to pay off international tuition?

[australiaquestions]

I'm thinking about making a career change and going into medical school. International tuition is almost 100K/year, and sets you back $400K (not even including interest yet)


I'm trying to understand how possible it is to pay that off.



I read online that with overtime, interns / residents can make ~100K. Is it also right that tax is around 25% so maybe youd take home after tax as 75K for for the next 3 years from when you graduate? And then maybe be able to put 20-30K/ year toward the debt?

1yr post school/ PGY1 ~100K-> 30 repayment

2yr post school/ PGY2 > 30 repayment

3yr post school/ PGY3 > 30 repayment

(Assuming you have no savings at this point)



After that I saw that its possible to be an unaccredited registrar -> how much are they getting paid? Is it 100-130? Im guessing tax is about a 1/3?

Approximately how much are registrars making with overtime? Does it end up being 130-160 for however many years until one becomes a consultant? How much would someone be paid during fellowshup? After tax, I'm assuming that becomes more like 100K and ideally youd be able to save ~40-50K per year towards debt. Does this vary a lot across specialties?

Trying to figure out the savings/payments you could make towards deb..

4 years: Potentially Unaccredited Registrar: 40K

5 years: Registrar: ~40K

6 years: Registrar: ~40K

7 years: Registrar: ~40K

8 years: Registrar: ~50K

9 years: Registrar: ~50K

10 years: Consultant ~60K

In order to pay off ~400K, it seems like it could take almost 10 years to get back to my current financial position, and to pay off all the debt and to start saving. Assuming I was 30 now, at 40 Id have no debt but also no savings at all.

Does this seem realistic at all? Would love to see if someone has created an excel or knows a more accurate way to try to project it (fully aware that pay as a fully licensed doctor / consultant varies across the specialties)

Appreciate your help!

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[bluefish18]

Yes your assumptions are quite right. As an intern, your after-tax income is roughly 50-60k depending on overtime and salary packaging. After about 7-8 years your income as a registrar is likely doubled, so about 100K after tax. It will take 10 years to pay off your school loan.

Salary scales at public hospitals are public knowledge, you can google them. 100K pretax as an intern is somewhat unrealistic, I'd put it closer to 80K.

it's expensive to go to medical school as a non-resident, you might want to take some time to think about it.

 

[sean80439]

Honestly after intern year, your pay increases substantially. You make well over 100k/year pretax PGY3 and onward. The base pay may be public knowledge but that doesn't include all of the penalty rates you get for working afternoons/lates/overnights/weekends/overtime etc. Once you become a registrar, it's another big jump. That doesn't even include locum'ing for 90-150/hr for private hospitals or out of state depending on time off with your roster.