MtoM #69 - Graduating Medical School Debt Free

This is the White Coat Investor podcast, Milestones to Millionaire, celebrating stories of success along the journey to financial freedom. Hey, and welcome back to Milestones to Millionaire podcast. Number 69, graduating medical school, debt free. This is your host, Dr. Disha Spath.

Did you know that the White Coat Investor not only has a podcast and a blog, but but several books that will help you on your way to financial independence. These books cover topics such as asset protection and minimizing your taxes to keep more of your hard earned money. They discuss plans for insurance, housing spending, student loan elimination, investing, and estate planning. You can learn how to become a millionaire within five to 10 years of leaving residency and how to invest in a sensible, low cost and effective manner with or without the assistance of a financial advisor. There's even a book geared directly toward medical and dental students, so you can start optimizing your finances or early in your professional journey. Find the book that is right for you at the WCI store, at shop.whitecoatinvestor.com or on Amazon. You can do this and the White Coat Investor can help.

Today I'd like to welcome Ista Igbeito to the Milestones to Millionaire podcast. She's a dermatology resident who graduated from medical school debt free, and I can't wait to hear all her secrets of how she did that. That's amazing. Isa, welcome.

Thank you. Thank you for having me on your show.

It's my pleasure. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and what got you here.

Yeah. So my name is Ista. I'm currently a transitional year resident in Boston and I'll be moving on to Baltimore to continue my dermatology residency. And I'm here because I reached a milestone of graduating from medical school debt free.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

That's amazing.

Thank you. I'd like to share my story and hopefully inspire other medical students too. Hopefully also attain that goal.

Okay, so you gotta tell us, how did you do it? Give us the big picture.

Yeah. So I think it took a lot of team effort to get to where we are right now. So, one, I am married, so my husband obviously was able to support me while I was in medical school. Two, I got a full tuition scholarship to medical school.

What, do those still exist?

They do. Well, my stories are quite different. So at first I got a half tuition. Okay. And I reached out to the financial aid office and I asked them for more money. They refused at first and I was like, okay, fine. So I reluctantly signed my $30,000 loan. I was like, oh, my gosh. I Was crying when that was happening, and I prayed. And literally the next day, uh, I get an email saying that I got the second half. What? I was elated. So at that point I told my husband, listen, I have this vision that I'm going to graduate debt free. He looks at me and he start laughing. He's like, you're crazy. I'm like, no, no, no. It's going to happen and I need you to help me. And here we are.

Wow. That's the power of positive thinking and setting goals. Holy cow. Okay, so which medical school was this that you went to?

I went to Tufts University School of Medicine, which is one of the most expensive schools.

Oh, yeah. And do they like, traditionally give out full rides?

I am not sure. When I was applying, they told me that they typically give a quarter to half tuition. They told me that they don't typically give full tuition. But I reached out. At first it told me no, but eventually it came to me.

What a great lesson. Honestly, like, you know, a lot of the times we don't ask because we're too afraid or whatever, you know, but what's the worst thing they can say? No, right? And the best case scenario is you get a full ride. Wow, that's. That's so brave.

And I always tell people, close mouth, don't get fed. If you want something, go for it and ask. You never know.

Yeah, lovely. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so you got a full ride and now your husband's paying your living expenses. What does he do?

So my husband actually switched careers while I was in medical school. He went back to school full time, while working full time, and he also graduated debt free. And now he's an accountant. Okay.

Wow, that's. Yeah, that's a good field to be in for sure. So you're going to be a dermatologist and he's going to be an accountant. You guys are just going to kill it. I know it. That's amazing. So tell me a little bit more. How did you like, save money during residency? How did you do it without any, any debt? I mean, he was also in school at one point.

Right. So while in medical school, I worked during my pre clinical years, I was a video uploader. So basically after class, I'll be the one uploading all the videos on time for streaming. And I got paid approximately 250 to $300 a month. So that was our grocery money. And my husband took care of the other living expenses. Also while in medical school, I did a lot of research and a community service And I got paid for that. I also was a curriculum developer during the summers. So each summer I would say I made between 10,000 and 15,000 while in medical school.

Yeah, you were really burning the candle and on all ends here being a medical student. And you're going to dermatology, by the way. So clearly you did pretty well and you were working like three jobs. Holy moly.

Yes. I had a vision and I had to meet my goal.

So how did you, like, how did you stay sane through all of this? How did you take care of yourself?

Right. So the first summer in medical school, you have that summer off. So I use that time to do research. And that same summer I was a curriculum developer and that was fine for me. I've worked before in medical school, so I was used to working a lot of hours. The second summer I also did research, but it was a continuation of my research that first summer, so it wasn't too hard for me. And I was also doing some tutoring. It was also helping me study for the board exams, so I didn't feel like it was extra work on me. And the last summer it was again research and I did a lot of community service for which I got paid for and I applied for a bunch of other scholarships as well.

Okay, awesome. What kind of community service were you doing that you were getting paid for?

So the community service that I did was basically working with, basically doing skin of color work since I'm going into dermatology. I also worked in Suboxone clinic and did data analysis for some of those clinics. And we also analyzed how Covid affected the prescription of Suboxone during the COVID period in 2020 and 2021. Wow.

And just I'm just curious, can you tell me what you found?

Oh, we found that definitely there were less prescriptions, but for longer period of time there were not a lot of refills. And again, there was a waiver during that period of time because people were not going to the office to get refills. So the prescription for were for a longer period of times, but there were a lot of no shows to appointments. There were a lot more overdoses during that period. So those are some of the findings that we found. Yeah.

Okay, awesome. Well, thank you for indulging my primary care curiosity there. That does, that does make sense. So coming back to the money side of things, can you tell me a little bit about what was your total range of income in this four year period where at one point your husband was working and at one point you were Both in school and probably working side jobs as well. So what was your range of income during this time frame?

So my husband, during medical school, made about 40 to 60,000. That's excluding the side gigs. And I was making between, I'll say 10,000 to, let's say, 18,000 a year, including all the other jobs that I had. So I'll say our annual income was about 60 on average every year. Okay.

Did he get a scholarship for his studies as well?

No, he did not. So we paid for everything out of pocket.

Oh, wow. Oh, my gosh. You guys. I mean, you guys are clearly just fabulous budgeters. Did you say your monthly grocery budget was about 250 to $300?

Yes.

So how did you do that? That's pretty amazing. That's how much I spent in, like, two weeks.

So the good thing is that in Boston, they have this local farmers market called Haymarket. So it happens on the weekend, and they sell produce for very cheap. You can buy 2 pounds of tomatoes for, like, a dollar. So what I would do is that on my way back from school on Fridays, I will buy all the produce that we need for that week for literally $5.

What? Amazing.

Yeah, it is amazing. So we definitely took advantage of that. And as a medical student, obviously, I attended all the free events, whether it was food, so I didn't have to cook or, like, spend money.

I love it. Do you guys eat meat or are you vegetarians?

Oh, we love meat. We eat meat all the time.

Okay, well, that's great. So what would you say is the biggest secret to your success of coming out of medical school and your husband's graduate school completely debt free? What is the biggest secret sauce that you would say was your. Was your superpower?

Right. I would say being intentional. Like I said earlier, I had a vision, and I shared that vision with my husband, who was very supportive. And having a support system is very important as well. Even before medical school, I had already created a savings account with four savings accounts. I had one for step one, one for step two, CKNCs and a residency application. So. So I did my research. I knew how much I was going to spend on each of these items, and I saved towards those things. So every single time I had a little bit of leftover money, I would just put it in the savings account. My husband, obviously, was very instrumental in us being able to accomplish that goal. And also, we don't spend a lot of money. We live way, way below our means, and we budget a lot. Everything is calculated to the penny. We don't waste money.

Awesome. Wow. What an amazing story. I'm so inspired by Ista. She was. I can't believe she and her husband were both in school at one point and we actually went in. We didn't go into this during the interview, but we went into it afterwards. She actually had a baby in her fourth year of medical school and took maternity leave and still graduated without debt. Just an amazing story. I love how she took the power of her dream, the power of that intention of, you know, I'm going to graduate debt free. And then she just ran with it and made it happen. And it's really like the positive, the positive thinking and the goal setting. It makes things happen for you. It really brings so many opportunities your way and opens your minds to things that you would never have thought of otherwise. And that is just a humongous takeaway for me is I need to continue to dream and continue to set goals so that I can see those opportunities in front of me that will make it possible. And the other thing that I was really inspired by was the power of her frugality. She got all of her vegetables for the week for $5. I am really impressed. That is amazing. Wow. I mean, I'm just so, so thankful that we got to hear Ista's story here today. Thank you for joining us.

Did you know that the White Coat Investor not only has a podcast and a blog, but several books that will help you on your way to financial independence. These books cover topics such as asset protection and minimizing your taxes to keep more of your hard earned money. They discuss plans for insurance, housing spending, student loan elimination, investing and estate planning. You can learn how to become a millionaire within five to 10 years of leaving residency and how to invest in a sensible, low cost and effective manner with or without the assistance of a financial advisor. There's even a book geared directly toward medical and dental students so you can start optimizing your finances or early in your professional journey. Find the book that is right for you at the WCI store, at shop.whitecoatinvestor.com or on Amazon. You can do this and the White Coat Investor can help.

Thank you for all that you do. We really appreciate the service you are doing to our community. Head up, shoulders back. You've got this. We can help. Thank you for listening to the Milestones to Millionaire Podcast. The hosts of the White Code Investor Podcast are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors. This podcast is free entertainment and information only. It should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult the appropriate professional for specific advice relating to your situation.