Educational Debt Among US Medical Graduates Entering Radiology.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify trends in medical educational debt for US medical school graduates pursuing radiology and examine associations with socio-economic factors. Data were obtained from the Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation and Matriculating Student Questionnaires to identify self-reported medical educational debt for graduates pursuing radiology training. The proportion of medical graduates with debt in radiology were compared with those in other medical specialties. Trends in medical educational debt (inflation adjusted to 2024 US dollars) were calculated from 2015 to 2024. Descriptive statistics were used to assess characteristics associated with debt. Debt-to-income ratios were calculated using compensation data from Association of American Medical Colleges and Medical Group Management Association data. There were 162,081 responses from US medical graduates recorded from 2015 to 2024, of which 6,477 planned on radiology training. The percentage of students pursuing radiology with medical educational debt decreased from 76.5% in 2015 to 64.6% in 2024. The median medical educational debt increased from $237,600 in 2015 to $248,000 in 2018 and has been decreasing since, to $200,000 in 2024. Higher likelihood of debt was reported by graduates from self-identified race and ethnicity groups who are underrepresented in medicine (URiM) (odds ratio 1.74, 95% confidence interval 1.48-2.06), but with a lower total debt (median $208,530; interquartile range $133,915-$280,810) when compared with graduates not self-identifying as URiM ($226,600; interquartile range $153,400-$298,388; P = .004). In 2015, 25.8% of indebted radiology-bound graduates indicated plans to use Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which increased to 44.9% in 2024 (P < .001). In 2023, the median debt for radiology graduates represented between 35% and 45% of total annual compensation. Although the debt burden and the proportion of radiology-bound graduates with medical educational debt declined from 2015 to 2024, interest in Public Service Loan Forgiveness nearly doubled. Graduates from lower-income families and those of URiM racial or ethnic groups had a higher likelihood of debt burden.