For those of you who are recent grads or have been working as a PA for >5-6 years, how are you managing to pay off your school loans/what is your plan of action?

im just thinking because many mds still have to pay off their loans and are well into their careers, whereas some of my friends who have been dentists for the past 3 years, have already paid off at least 2/4-3/4 of their loans.

im curious because...

-pa's go to school on avg of 2 years, so in essence they would accumulate less loans (and i am just talking about pa loans, not undergrad/msc..)

-since we also get a jump start on our careers and avg pay is to be ~80K *at least here in SoCal*

how long do you think a recent pa grad who has a job be able to pay off75-80K in student loans? im one of those people who hates carrying around balances on my credits and try my best to pay it all off in time and pay bills. so for me i would like to think by living sensibly during pa school + other frugal factors, one should be able to pay off their loans within 3-4 years.

what do you guys think? a little unreasonable? i would love to hear stories about how you pas have been able to pay off your loans and still live a decent lifestyle (as for me-im def not one of those kids who take out a 10K loan for a new car and drive it around CC-i prefer to drive a reasonable 02 corrolla given to me for FREE-i plan on exhausting that thing till it gives up on me! *knock on wood

thanks again for your input!