Medical schools typically don’t give scholarships. The main reason is that they don’t have to. Undergrad institutions give scholarships to entice students to go there. Med schools turn most of their applicants away and don’t really need to entice anybody. The vast majority of medical students either take out loans to go, or are financed by the Bank of Mom and Dad.

The major source of full tuition scholarships are the ones that come with some sort of service commitment afterwards. The largest of these are through the various branches of the the US military. These scholarship programs provide full tuition to any accredited medical school in the country, all books and equipment, and a living stipend of around $30,000 per year the last time I checked. In return, participants agree to commit to 4 years of active military service following residency. There may also be some restrictions abut where and in what the participant can train (the where is more common, as they may require a military residency program, the in what is less so as the military needs all specialties). There is also a smaller service commitment during school.

There are similar programs through other organizations such as the Indian Health Service.

The Medical Scientist Training Program offers support (usually full tuition) for students pursing an MD and PhD together. It is only available at certain institutions, but others have their own scholarship programs.

New York University School of Medicine offers full tuition scholarships to EVERYONE. You still have to pay for books, equipment, and living expenses (in New York), but they give all students a $58,000 per year scholarship.

If you are a Texas resident, in-state medical school tuition at multiple schools is capped at around $6500 per year. Not quite free, but a close to 90% discount compared to normal.

There are many jobs after residency that offer some degree of loan repayment or forgiveness. These usually are available for certain specialties only and typically require work in an underserved (usually rural or inner city) area or a Native American reservation. This isn’t exactly a scholarship, but it isn’t you paying the loans off.

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Are you a student considering a career in medicine? Do you have a son or daughter making that decision? You probably have questions about how to increase your chances of getting into medical school. I have written a ebook, So You Want To Be a Doctor: An Insider’s Guide to Getting Into Medical School. Get valuable tips from one of the top Quora writers on medical school and medical education.

By Damody

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