<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
THURSDAY, Aug. 23, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Surgical residents feel strongly that personal financial education should be offered during medical training, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Sarah E. Tevis, M.D., from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and colleagues surveyed 105 surgical trainees at a single academic center regarding issues related to debt, equity, cash flow, financial education, and fiscal parameters. Debt-to-asset and debt-to-income ratios were calculated and characterized as moderate-risk debt-to-asset ratio (0.5 to 0.9), high-risk debt-to-asset ratio (\u22650.9), and high-risk debt-to-income ratio (>0.4)<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 38 percent of respondents reported greater than $200,000 in educational debt. The majority of respondents (82 percent) had a moderate- or high-risk debt-to-asset ratio. There was no correlation between residency program, year, sex, or perception of financial knowledge with high-risk debt-to-asset ratio. Compared with residents who had low debt-to-asset ratios, residents with high debt-to-asset ratios were more likely to have a high level of concern about debt (52 versus 0 percent). More than three-quarters of respondents (79 percent) felt strongly that additional financial training in residency education is critically needed.<\/p>\n
“In a climate of increasingly delayed financial gratification, surgical trainees are on critically unstable financial footing,” the authors write. “There is a major gap in current surgical education that requires reassessment for the long-term financial health of residents.”<\/p>\n