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Okay maybe $100k in student loans is not that bad...Is this really the starting pay??

By PNKGIRL25
in California

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coastalPA

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Wait....you've been paying your loan back with $770/month for 4 years and only knocked $3000 off of the principle? :O

 

Maverick, I have paid this amount every month since the winter of 2008, when I started my first job up until the last 6 months or so because I only work PT now. AES "allows" me to pay around $600/mo after I gave them proof of pay although this goes to interest with more interest going unpaid every month; it's so depressing. When I made more with FT employment, I would pay more than this at times $1000-1200/mo but it all seems to be going to interest. AES tells me this is just the way these loans work...interest is paid first, up front, with VERY little going to principle ($5-$20/mo). What can you do? If you think I can do something differently (aside from securing FT employment--which I am actively looking for) please PM me and let me know your thoughts.

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Grand Master

ventana

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two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

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Grand Master

ventana

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two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

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Grand Master

ventana

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two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

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Maverick87

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Posted
two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

 

Haha I just PM'd the last poster telling them almost the same exact thing (didn't notice there was a page 4). Great minds think alike it seems. :p

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Maverick87

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two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

 

Haha I just PM'd the last poster telling them almost the same exact thing (didn't notice there was a page 4). Great minds think alike it seems. :p

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Maverick87

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Posted
two words....

 

LOAN REPAYMENT

 

 

 

do military if you have the desire to serve and travel

 

do NHSC or USPHS or BOP or IHS if want to stay stateside...

 

 

10+ years out and I still pay $300 per month after paying off 1/2 my loans....... parts of me wish I had just gotten an NHSC site and gotten ride of them in 3 years....

 

Haha I just PM'd the last poster telling them almost the same exact thing (didn't notice there was a page 4). Great minds think alike it seems. :p

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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FIRST thing you can do to prevent these issues in the future is tell your PA schools to STOP EXPANDING ENROLLMENT and petition AAPA PAEA to do what they can to prevent new programs from popping up. Someone SHOULD NOT MAKE under 80K a year for practicing medicine and billing for the most part at identical rates to physicians unless the profession is being guided without guidance. I am willing to bet 5K with anyone on this board that the PA market in ten years does not have much salary increase from today and that RNs are making just under PAs. We are about to SATURATE the market with PAs and look at evidence from Mass ... this healthcare reform is not about to flood the doctors office.

 

You don't think that NPs won't fill our open spots? This is a good idea in most other professions, but we aren't the only one who can fill this role. Trying to restrict our numbers, especially when we are already fewer in number than NPs now, would be catastrophic.

 

What we actually need is more, so that we can be the provider of choice, have more in administration, and have more lobbying power.

 

If we want more money, we should demand it. New grads, often young ones, who don't know how to negotiate efficiently because they've never had a job, are taking positions with way to low pay. We need to learn to walk and/or negotiate harder.

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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FIRST thing you can do to prevent these issues in the future is tell your PA schools to STOP EXPANDING ENROLLMENT and petition AAPA PAEA to do what they can to prevent new programs from popping up. Someone SHOULD NOT MAKE under 80K a year for practicing medicine and billing for the most part at identical rates to physicians unless the profession is being guided without guidance. I am willing to bet 5K with anyone on this board that the PA market in ten years does not have much salary increase from today and that RNs are making just under PAs. We are about to SATURATE the market with PAs and look at evidence from Mass ... this healthcare reform is not about to flood the doctors office.

 

You don't think that NPs won't fill our open spots? This is a good idea in most other professions, but we aren't the only one who can fill this role. Trying to restrict our numbers, especially when we are already fewer in number than NPs now, would be catastrophic.

 

What we actually need is more, so that we can be the provider of choice, have more in administration, and have more lobbying power.

 

If we want more money, we should demand it. New grads, often young ones, who don't know how to negotiate efficiently because they've never had a job, are taking positions with way to low pay. We need to learn to walk and/or negotiate harder.

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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FIRST thing you can do to prevent these issues in the future is tell your PA schools to STOP EXPANDING ENROLLMENT and petition AAPA PAEA to do what they can to prevent new programs from popping up. Someone SHOULD NOT MAKE under 80K a year for practicing medicine and billing for the most part at identical rates to physicians unless the profession is being guided without guidance. I am willing to bet 5K with anyone on this board that the PA market in ten years does not have much salary increase from today and that RNs are making just under PAs. We are about to SATURATE the market with PAs and look at evidence from Mass ... this healthcare reform is not about to flood the doctors office.

 

You don't think that NPs won't fill our open spots? This is a good idea in most other professions, but we aren't the only one who can fill this role. Trying to restrict our numbers, especially when we are already fewer in number than NPs now, would be catastrophic.

 

What we actually need is more, so that we can be the provider of choice, have more in administration, and have more lobbying power.

 

If we want more money, we should demand it. New grads, often young ones, who don't know how to negotiate efficiently because they've never had a job, are taking positions with way to low pay. We need to learn to walk and/or negotiate harder.

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DoTheEvolution

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I agree with Oneal. The baby boomer generation is only beginning to weigh down on the healthcare system. There's a severe shortage of doctors and PAs. I personally think PA programs would be better served to give preference to slightly older applicants who have more life experience than the way it is now where someone with a decade of work experience is the minority of a PA class and not the norm. But that's just me.

 

On a side note as a smidgeon of an anecdote re: young folks entering the workforce for the first time in their intended careers and not knowing negotiation-type stuff: At the nursing home where I started out, along with 3 other new - and much younger/greener CNAs than me - I was the very first employee to see through the 35-year-old nursing home reimbursing me a significant percentage for my CNA training course since that was my first CNA job. The mgr. said someone asked about that 2 years prior, but told me they learned it wasn't something that could be reimbursed. I persisted, citing federal law re: Medicare/Medicaid regulations and asking them to check with state or federal, and finally got reimbursed almost 70 percent after a few weeks of back and forth where they learned they were required to if asked by a qualifying worker. Only one of the other 3 new CNAs joined me, and he only did so because I told them about it. The other 2 inexplicably decided it was too much hassle to ask for reimbursement, which baffled me, because I got back about $600 from a $900 Red Cross course.

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DoTheEvolution

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I agree with Oneal. The baby boomer generation is only beginning to weigh down on the healthcare system. There's a severe shortage of doctors and PAs. I personally think PA programs would be better served to give preference to slightly older applicants who have more life experience than the way it is now where someone with a decade of work experience is the minority of a PA class and not the norm. But that's just me.

 

On a side note as a smidgeon of an anecdote re: young folks entering the workforce for the first time in their intended careers and not knowing negotiation-type stuff: At the nursing home where I started out, along with 3 other new - and much younger/greener CNAs than me - I was the very first employee to see through the 35-year-old nursing home reimbursing me a significant percentage for my CNA training course since that was my first CNA job. The mgr. said someone asked about that 2 years prior, but told me they learned it wasn't something that could be reimbursed. I persisted, citing federal law re: Medicare/Medicaid regulations and asking them to check with state or federal, and finally got reimbursed almost 70 percent after a few weeks of back and forth where they learned they were required to if asked by a qualifying worker. Only one of the other 3 new CNAs joined me, and he only did so because I told them about it. The other 2 inexplicably decided it was too much hassle to ask for reimbursement, which baffled me, because I got back about $600 from a $900 Red Cross course.

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DoTheEvolution

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I agree with Oneal. The baby boomer generation is only beginning to weigh down on the healthcare system. There's a severe shortage of doctors and PAs. I personally think PA programs would be better served to give preference to slightly older applicants who have more life experience than the way it is now where someone with a decade of work experience is the minority of a PA class and not the norm. But that's just me.

 

On a side note as a smidgeon of an anecdote re: young folks entering the workforce for the first time in their intended careers and not knowing negotiation-type stuff: At the nursing home where I started out, along with 3 other new - and much younger/greener CNAs than me - I was the very first employee to see through the 35-year-old nursing home reimbursing me a significant percentage for my CNA training course since that was my first CNA job. The mgr. said someone asked about that 2 years prior, but told me they learned it wasn't something that could be reimbursed. I persisted, citing federal law re: Medicare/Medicaid regulations and asking them to check with state or federal, and finally got reimbursed almost 70 percent after a few weeks of back and forth where they learned they were required to if asked by a qualifying worker. Only one of the other 3 new CNAs joined me, and he only did so because I told them about it. The other 2 inexplicably decided it was too much hassle to ask for reimbursement, which baffled me, because I got back about $600 from a $900 Red Cross course.

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

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LT_Oneal_PAC

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I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

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DoTheEvolution

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I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

 

Agree 100 percent on this, too. The education of the business-side of healthcare is even lacking for doctors in med school.

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DoTheEvolution

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I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

 

Agree 100 percent on this, too. The education of the business-side of healthcare is even lacking for doctors in med school.

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DoTheEvolution

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Posted
I'm not sure it would be better to give preference to older applicants (certainly wouldn't hurt) as they may be more willing to take a lower salary for different reasons, like "family situation" such as they don't want to uproot spouse and kids. We need to educate students about what they are worth, what they can make, and how to negotiate well. Teach students more about billing and help them realize they are only keeping a small fraction of what they are making for the practice. I think they should have one class on starting your own clinic. I would love one. Even if I don't ever start my own, I'll know where I'm getting screwed.

 

Agree 100 percent on this, too. The education of the business-side of healthcare is even lacking for doctors in med school.

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