The cost of attending medical school has greatly outpaced inflation over the last two decades, according to an Oct. 2 report by CHG Healthcare.
According to the report, physicians are entering residency with more debt and taking longer to pay it off. Over the last 22 years, medical school costs have increased 91% after adjusting for inflation. Overall, 74% of physicians report having current or past medical school debt. In 2024, 32% of physicians reported having over $250,000 of medical debt.
Physicians in some specialties accumulate more debt than others. Pediatric subspecialties and pediatrics, overall, are 86% and 84% more likely to have debt than other physicians, respectively. Emergency medicine physicians are 84% more likely to carry debt while primary care physicians are 83% more likely.
Internal medicine subspecialties and anesthesiology are the specialties with the least amount of debt, at 38% and 36%, respectively.