Medical school debt load of graduate anesthesiologists at a single medical school campus, 1982-2007

Medical school debt continues to grow at an ever increasing rate. We questioned whether the debt incurred by the residents finishing their training at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita (UKSM-W) was overly burdensome. We surveyed all graduate anesthesiologists from UKSM-W. The returned questionnaires were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis comparing two cohorts: those graduates finishing in the years 1982-1992 (earlier cohort) to those finishing in the years 1993-2007 (later cohort). There was a statistical difference in median debt load between the cohorts, $56,823 to $113,746 earlier versus later cohorts (constant dollars). The percentage of gross income required to repay the debt was the same for both cohorts. Both cohorts reported under-funding retirement plans and children's education to service debt. Few of either cohort chose practice location because of debt load.