It Only Tuesday

Pharmacology study guide

A warning to listeners: he drops the F-bomb at the end....



Thanks to Lucas for this excellent find (the anesthesiology video, too)!

Bloggied-Out?

I have been asked by many people what happened to our thriving, bustling blog. I do not know what to say, other than that my debate with Todd on the existence of God might have been to much too soon. he he he. Anyway, I hope for a resurgence of dialogue before the famine of 3rd year.

Our futures....

A tribute to anesthesiology

A cure for constipation?

This makes my head hurt

The Right Brain vs Left Brain test ... do you see the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise?

If clockwise, then you use more of the right side of the brain and vice versa.

Most of us would see the dancer turning anti-clockwise though you can try to focus and change the direction; see if you can do it.

New law affecting residents...

Not sure what to make of it yet. Doesn't look good. Here's a blurb from the AMA:

Contact Congress - New law could add to loan debt burden

A key provision in a new education financing law could adversely affect loan repayments for up to 67 percent of resident physicians. The AMA urges all medical students and early-career physicians to call on members of Congress to fix this problem.

At issue is the recent elimination of the “20/220” rule—a regulation that had enabled many resident physicians to qualify for economic hardship deferment, and defer payment for three years without accruing interest on subsidized loans. Residents qualified if their debt burden was greater than 20 percent of their income, and if their income minus their debt burden was not greater than 220 percent of the federal poverty level.

As part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (H.R. 2699), which was signed into law Sept. 27 and took effect Oct. 1, the 20/220 rule no longer exists. Instead, under a new program, loan repayments would be capped at 15 percent of the borrower’s income that is above 150 percent of the federal poverty level. But the new program does not begin until July 1, 2009.

The AMA feels strongly that elimination of the 20/220 rule in the middle of the year is disruptive and unfairly hits resident physicians at a time when they will be least able to make monthly payments on their education loans. The average resident earns just over $43,000 a year and carries a debt burden of more than $130,000.

The AMA urges its members to contact the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and physician members of Congress. Please urge them to do the following:

• Restore the 20/220 rule that was eliminated in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.
• Expand the definition of economic hardship deferment to include residents.
• Delay the elimination of the 20/220 rule until July 1, 2009, to coincide with the start of the new loan repayment program.
  

[To learn more, look for the links at the bottom of this page.]

Last updated: Oct 05, 2007
Content provided by: Medical Student Section