*** Thread for 2026-2027 MD/DO/Other Applicants and Parents ***

[thumper1]

FAQ: How To Pay For Medical School

The Federal Professional Student Loan Program There will be major changes in how med students pay for their medical education starting July 1, 2026. As part of the OBBB, the Grad Plus Loan program has been eliminated. The OBBB also placed new borrowing caps on professional student loans. Starting this year, med students will only be able to borrow a maximum of $200,000 in federal student loans over a lifetime. This maximum includes any (subsidized or unsubsided) undergrad federal student loans a student may have taken out. Med students may only borrow a maximum of $50,000/year. Federal student loans for professional students are unsubsidized loans. This means that interest begins accruing from the day a loan is disbursed. Currently the interest rate for professional student loans is 7.97%. A new rate is posted on June 1 of each year. The rate is set by Congress and based on the auction price of 10 year Treasury bonds. Once the loan has been disbursed, its interest rate does not cha…

FAQ: What is Osteopathic Medicine?

Osteopathic medicine is a medical discipline that originated in the United States. In 1874, Dr. Andrew Taylor Stills started practicing and teaching a new type of medical practice. He thought traditional medicine (MD) as taught at the time was corrupt and placed too much emphasis on treating symptoms instead of the root causes of illness. Dr Stills’ criticism of traditional medicine was well founded. Prior to the Flexnor Report (1910), there was no universal medical curriculum, nor any accrediting body regulating medical education. Anyone could open a medical school, and there were a large number of for-profit and low quality schools. In some places in the US, medicine and quackery were synonymous. Osteopathic medicine is distinct from osteopathy which is a pseudo-scientific alternative medical practice of manual manipulation of muscle tissue to improve health that is practiced in many countries. (continued)