Analysis of educational debt and income among pharmacists and other health professionals

Objective. To evaluate educational debt-to-income trends in pharmacy, dentistry, medicine, optometry, and veterinary medicine in the United States from 2010 to 2016. Methods. A retrospective analysis of educational debt and income for selected health professions was conducted. Data on student loan debt were collected from professional organizations and data on income were collected from the American Community Survey. Ratios of the mean educational debt of graduating students to the median annual income for their respective profession were calculated for 2010 through 2016. Average change per year in debt, income, and debt-to-income ratio were calculated. Results. Debt-to-income ratios for all selected health professions except medicine exceeded 100%. For physicians, debt-to-income ratios ranged from 89% to 95%. On average, physicians (-0.3 percentage point) and optometrists (-0.5 percentage point) had negative changes in their debt-to-income ratios from 2010 to 2016. Average increases per year in debt-to-income ratio of veterinarians, pharmacists, and dentists were 5.5, 5.7, and 6.0 percentage points, respectively. From 2010 to 2016, dentists had the largest average increase per year in debt ($10,525), while physicians had the largest average increase per year in income ($6667) and a minimal average debt increase per year ($5436). Pharmacists had the second largest average increase per year in debt ($8356). Conclusion. Educational debt-to-income ratios in the United States increased considerably over the past decade among pharmacists, dentists, and veterinarians and can negatively impact health professionals as well as patient care. Innovative strategies are needed to alleviate the educational debt burden.