Offshore schools may lose federal loans

[swimguy23]

Originally Posted by armymedic2MD

so does anyone know what the latest news is??? i know that they just approved some budget bill and the patriot act again, but i have not heard anything about and education bill.

havent heard anything yet

[Biafra24]

Originally Posted by swimguy23

havent heard anything yet

I guess their hands and feet are tied at this moment. It would be a tough call to make I believe.

[honeybeemd]

Thousands and thousands of grads recieved student loans for foreign med school education and are practicing today ,paying a fortune in taxes to uncle sam. Plus most repay the loans.To be fair these loans should continue. How can you justify building schools in Afghanistan and blowing billions over there that will never be repaid - and then go on and deny ambitious American young people their chance to serve as physicians. The grandfather principle is a principle of fairness throughout American law - and it should not be abrogated in the rush to save a few bucks!

[swimguy23]

Originally Posted by honeybeemd

Thousands and thousands of grads recieved student loans for foreign med school education and are practicing today ,paying a fortune in taxes to uncle sam. Plus most repay the loans.To be fair these loans should continue. How can you justify building schools in Afghanistan and blowing billions over there that will never be repaid - and then go on and deny ambitious American young people their chance to serve as physicians. The grandfather principle is a principle of fairness throughout American law - and it should not be abrogated in the rush to save a few bucks!

my theory is it has nothing to do with the money.....just hear me out

There is a physician shortage throughout most of the US. This helps to keep salaries high, fields competitive and care good. The shortage is putting pressue on US med schools to open more spots. Currently caribbean schools are pumping out many physicians which basically are removing these potential spots from us grads. Now, rather than having to spend millions of dollars on updating facilities, increasing faculty, etc it is easier for US schools to try and wipe out their competition.....

also (i know i'll get some heads shaking for this but its true).....lower socioeconomic classes in general rely heavy on student loans. By making federal loans harder to obtain it makes the military much more alluring.....something like 85% of military comes from lower socioeconomic status as it is.....there is a shortage of people entering the military. The best way to convince the youth is to make it harder to receive money for education. If there is an increase in the GI bill then i'm right.....this doesnt have to do with caribbean med schools but the whole financial aid cuts in general

[Locutusofborg]

Excellent points swimguy. If you ever decide to go the Frist route with your career (doctor/senator), Ill vote for ya.

[AUCMD2006]

just got an email from a senator from michigan so they are reading our faxes emails etc. he said they are getting ready to debate it so maybe now would be a good time to re-send a new wave?

[puffin98]

Originally Posted by rrod

just got an email from a senator from michigan so they are reading our faxes emails etc. he said they are getting ready to debate it so maybe now would be a good time to re-send a new wave?

Thanks for the update. Any clue where it is going to be debated - in conference committee or is it in the senate or house??? It would really help to focus our "new wave" if we had a list of those involved in the upcoming debate on this issue.

[Miklos]

Originally Posted by swimguy23

There is a physician shortage throughout most of the US. This helps to keep salaries high, fields competitive and care good. The shortage is putting pressue on US med schools to open more spots. Currently caribbean schools are pumping out many physicians which basically are removing these potential spots from us grads. Now, rather than having to spend millions of dollars on updating facilities, increasing faculty, etc it is easier for US schools to try and wipe out their competition....

Getting rid of FFEL loans at the Carib. schools certainly benefits the AAMC schools (and potentially DO schools as well).

Regarding the physician shortage, the bigger question is whether the cap on the number of residencies is going to be lifted or increased.

[shuki25]

I would like to give 2 cents about this particular bill. Just today I got invited for a formal interview with Ross University SOM and this bill concern me in two ways. First, I will need a federal loan to pay for medical school. Second, I am deaf and I will be needing a sign language interpreter throughout medical training. Because of Title IV, the schools who are eligible for Title IV federal loan program are required to comply ADA regulations. Without Title IV, the schools are not required to provide interpreter at their expense. As you see how important it is for me that this bill must keep the grandfather clause in.

I don't know who I need to get in touch with to express this specific concern. I would like to share this information with Ross University lobbyist and perhaps they would like to include this information as another reason why they shouldn't remove grandfather clause. I'd appreciate any information you can give me in regards to this.

Josh

[azskeptic]

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/expor...21405_med.html