You may earn a higher-than-average salary as a doctor’s assistant, but your debt is also likely to be higher-than-average. The median salary for physician assistants is $95,000, according to a 2017 National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
The report also found that the total student loan debt is $112,500 for medical assistants. Any student loan waiver or repayment plan will help if student loan debt continues to be higher than incomes.
In this guide, we will discuss redemption and repayment plans for the physician loan assistant.
Federal Physician Assistant Loan Forgiveness Programs
If you have federal student loans, you can take advantage of various repayment options that offer student loan forgiveness.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) offers student loan forgiveness to non-profit providers, government agencies, and other public service organizations. To qualify, your student loans must first be consolidated into a direct consolidation loan.
You will then make 120 payments, and once these payments have been completed, you can apply for forgiveness at this point. Nevertheless, there has recently been some concern with PSLF where people find out that their approvals will be reversed after making approved payments worth years.
There will be more to come regarding PSLF in the future, but as for now, this is still a viable option that could work well for clinicians looking to have most of their loans forgiven.
Income-Driven Repayment Plan
You can find a revenue-based repayment plan if you have a federal student loan and you have trouble in being able to afford to make the payments. These include the Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan (PAYE), the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan (ICR), the Revised Pay As You Earn Plan (REPAYE) and the Income-Based Repayment Plan (IBR).
You’re not going to get out of your student loan debt at a faster rate with all these plans; but, they’re going to work to reduce your monthly payments to a percentage of your income.
Check Out The National Health Service Corps (NHSC)
Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program
The Indian Health Service has a loan repayment program that health professionals can receive if they commit to a two-year commitment to serve in American Indian or Alaska Native communities.
In this route, you can earn up to $40,000 in loan repayment for the two-year commitment. Additionally, the contract can be renewed until your debt is paid off completely!
State Loan Repayment Program
You may apply for local options in your state apart from the federal loan waiver and repayment options. Of example, if you’re looking for a New York or California medical assistant loan forgiveness, Iowa or Maine can search for programs available on individual state websites.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has State Loan Repayment Programs (SLRP) working with more than 30 states to support their loan forgiveness and repayment programs.
Doctor assistants are required to work in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) and serve for at least two years, possibly more depending on the contract.
In order to be eligible, physician assistants must have one of the following specialties:
Adult
Family
Pediatrics
Psychiatry/mental health
Geriatrics
Women’s health
Qualifications and specialties can vary from state to state. To see if your state offers physician assistant loan forgiveness, check out your state’s local SLRP contact.
Learn More about Refinancing
Take action on your student loans and examine forgiveness and repayment options in your state for any physician assistant loan. Then weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the various options available for refinancing loans.
You can also check to see if any student loan assistance options are available from your employer or prospective employer.
If this article was helpful to you, kindly share it with your friends and loved ones.
For More Information, Click Here