Front-line COVID doctor: We want student loan forgiveness, not hazard pay
"This could be one of the finest moments for our generation," Penton said. Millennial doctors are uniquely positioned, he explained. They're experienced and knowledgeable enough to treat patients effectively, but young enough to be in a lower-risk category for contracting severe COVID-19.
However, like many Millennials, Penton is deeply in debt.
"I'm looking at a student loan debt of $318,000," he said of his medical school debt. "That few extra thousand dollars, while it may make a big difference to some people, for me, most of that money is going to go back into paying off my student loan debt."
When hazard pay came up in the hospital workroom on the final day of Penton's COVID shift, residents and fellows agreed. They were all in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. Hazard pay was a nice idea. It wouldn't benefit them much.
"This is the very same debt that allowed me to get the education that’s allowing me to help save lives," he said.
The idea clearly has legs. Since the beginning of the month, more than 500,000 people have signed a MoveOn petition to include forgiving student loan debt for health care providers as part of the next stimulus bill.
It's also gained traction with health care organizations. Along with dozens of other doctor groups, the American Medical Association, the country's largest association of physicians, wrote a letter to Congress on April 7, asking for federal student loan forgiveness for doctors caring for patients on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/frontlines-covid-doctor-student-loan-forgiveness-hazard-pay/story
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