You finished medical school. You matched into residency. You’re finally earning a real income — and now you’re ready for a home of your own. But your credit file is thin, your student loans are enormous, and your savings account hasn’t had time to recover yet.

Sound familiar? That’s exactly the problem Doctor Loans are built to solve.

I’m Stacy Ann Stephens — a licensed Florida REALTOR® and a licensed Mortgage Broker. I work with medical professionals across Central Florida who are buying their first home or upgrading now that they’ve graduated or started their practice. And this loan product is one of the most underused tools in the mortgage market for physicians. Let me break it down for you.

What Is a Doctor Loan — and Why Does It Exist?

A Doctor Loan (sometimes called a physician loan or physician mortgage) is a non-agency loan product designed specifically for licensed medical professionals. It exists because lenders understand that doctors are an unusual borrower profile:

• High earning potential — but their income is new and their savings haven’t caught up yet
• Massive student loan balances — but with income trajectories that make repayment extremely likely
• Short credit histories — because they spent their 20s in school, not building a credit portfolio

Traditional loan programs penalize all three of those factors heavily. Doctor loans are designed with the understanding that a new attending physician with $350,000 in student debt is a very different credit risk than someone with that same debt and a different career trajectory.

As a mortgage broker, I have access to multiple lenders who offer this product — which means I can shop your scenario and find you the best terms available, not just whatever one bank wants to put you in.

Who Qualifies? Eligible Medical Degrees

At least one borrower on the loan must hold one of the following credentials and be the primary wage earner:

Good news for residents: You don’t have to wait until you’re an attending. Residents, fellows, and interns with an eligible degree can qualify based on their current residency income.

The Loan Parameters: What You Actually Need to Know

Here’s where most blog posts give you a list and walk away. I’m going to give you the list and tell you what each item actually means for you as a borrower.

The Student Loan Rules — This Is the Big One

Student loan treatment is where doctor loans really separate themselves from conventional financing. Here’s the breakdown:

• If you’re a resident or fellow and your loans are deferred or on an IBR plan showing $0, those payments can be excluded from your DTI entirely — as long as you’re qualifying based on your current residency income.
• If you’re an attending with loans in repayment, lenders will use either the actual reported payment, or they’ll calculate 1% of your outstanding balance — whichever applies to your loan documentation.
• For deferred loans outside of residency, lenders may use 1% of your balance or a fully amortizing payment from your loan documents.

In practical terms: if you’re a resident with $300,000 in student loans on an income-driven plan, those payments may not count against your debt-to-income ratio at all while you’re in training. That’s a game-changer for qualifying.

Doctor Loan Qualification Calculator

Use this tool to estimate whether you might qualify based on your income and student loan situation. This is a quick estimate — not a pre-approval. For real numbers, schedule a call and I’ll run an actual scenario.

Doctor Loan vs. FHA vs. Conventional: Which Is Better?

Great question — and the answer depends on your specific situation. Here’s a direct comparison so you can see why doctor loans typically win for medical professionals:

For most physicians buying in Central Florida — especially in the $400K–$1.2M range — the doctor loan wins on PMI savings alone. On a $600,000 loan, eliminating PMI can save you $250–$400 per month.

Frequently Asked Questions