Radiologist Creates A Financial Life preserver For Medical Students

Amanda is a PGY 2 radiology resident who has a clear mission to help physicians get out of debt. Her interest in finance is more than just a hobby. As a young girl in Taiwan, she says that her parents were in debt.  When she saw debt collectors coming to her childhood home, she decided to take action by saving coins to help her parents financially. When her mother found the coins, she told Amanda that they could not afford to put money aside as they needed it for food. These early experiences really formed Amanda's need to have a strong grasp of financial issues and to avoid debt. And the business savvy that she had armed herself with is far from selfish, as she shares what she has learned from her good and bad experiences to help other physicians achieve financial freedom.

When Amanda had her daughter at age 22, she took time off from medical school to care for her child. As the primary financial support for her daughter, she worked as an MCAT tutor, first for a company, and then as her own boss, setting her own rates and hours. When she went back to medical school, she paid her tuition with no-interest credit cards, getting cash back instead of paying interest.  Working 30-40 hours a week at work-study jobs during medical school, she relied on her parents to care for her daughter while she studied, worked, stayed late at the hospital for her clinical rotations and interviewed for residency. As a 4th year medical school, she was approached by a large publishing company to write a book on test preparation for USMLE step I. She decided to self-publish instead, and she had so far authored books on preparation for MCAT, USMLE, and a book on the residency Match.

Now a radiology resident, Amanda looks back and is immensely grateful that her parents were so supportive of her daughter. She says that, “by example, they taught me to be persistent, creative, and loving. I would not have been where I am today without their full-hearted support.” Amanda has taken her own financial know-how, which she says she learned out of necessity, to other doctors. She says that medical school education is missing a huge component, which is finance. She explains that the practice of medicine is a business, and that it is challenging to learn how to run that business while drowning under $300,000+ educational debt at 8% interest. She paid off her own educational costs as an intern and she strongly feels that doctors should help each other by sharing and broadcasting beneficial information. She runs drwisemoney.com, a financial website or doctors, which has a resources and financial tools for physicians. She gives talks and speaks at hospital/residency conferences, and she was even invited to speak at Radiological Society of North America.
One piece of advice that Amanda shares is to look at the price tag of your education before you begin. She says that she attended an expensive medical school and that looking back, she has learned that education is what you make of it and that a lower cost medical school is an important step in the right direction to minimizing educational costs for a physician. Amanda (Dr Wise Money) uses charts to easily explain financial concepts, such as how to deal with student loans. Here is article about student loan management written by Amanda.

Bio:Amanda is a 2nd year radiology resident. As she has achieved her financial goals of paying off her student loans, purchasing a home, and maxing out retirement savings, she writes and gives speeches on personal finances for doctors in hopes of seeing her colleagues also enjoy financial success. Through her blog drwisemoney.com, Amanda shares ideas and experiences on how to achieve financial goals efficiently.