For a resident or new attending buying a first home.
Doctor loan or conventional? Run both. Compare totals.
Type your price, down payment, and both rates. The calculator totals each loan over the years you will hold it, PMI included, so you see which costs less and by how much.
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Total both loans, side by side.
Prefilled values are a hypothetical example so you can see how it works. Both loans are 30-year fixed. Rates are for exploration, never market facts.
Your totals over 7 years
| Line | Physician loan | Conventional |
|---|---|---|
| Cash at closing | $0 | $25,000 |
| Loan amount | $500,000 | $475,000 |
| Monthly principal + interest | $3,160.34 | $3,120.41 |
| Monthly PMI | Waived | $197.92 |
| PMI drops off | Never charged | Month 140 (balance at 78% of price) |
| Interest paid over hold | $217,550 | $219,217 |
| PMI paid over hold | $0 | $16,625 |
| Cost over hold (interest + PMI) | $217,550 | $235,842 |
| Balance left after hold | $452,081 | $432,102 |
| Equity at end (before any price change) | $47,919 | $67,898 |
The physician loan costs $18,292 less over 7 years in interest and PMI. The conventional loan needs $25,000 more cash at closing.
This comparison leaves out what that upfront cash could earn elsewhere, and any change in the home's price. No appreciation assumed.
Tax + insurance: $0/mo each side (equal, moves nothing).
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Optional. The result is already above; the email only saves you a copy with your inputs as plan text.
Sold a payment, not a total.
You are still in resident mode and a lender just told you that you qualify for a doctor loan with very little down. It sounds built for you. That is exactly why you are afraid of an expensive mistake.
The lender page shows the monthly payment, not the 10-year total. The forum thread says doctor loans are always better, and the next post says they never are. Neither post knows your price, your down payment, or how long you will stay.
The question is never which loan is better. The question is which loan is cheaper for your numbers. That is what this page answers.
On a hypothetical $500,000 loan, mortgage insurance at 0.5% costs about $2,500 every year.1 Most physician mortgage programs waive that insurance even with 0 to 10% down.2A conventional loan with a small down payment usually charges it until you reach 20% equity.3
So the comparison that matters is total cost over your likely hold period: payment plus insurance plus interest, both sides, same years. A rate difference that looks small per month can total tens of thousands over a decade. These are hypothetical figures to show the scale. Your totals are above.
Primary-source fact check.
PMI rules, conforming limits, and physician program terms come from the CFPB, Fannie Mae, and the lenders' own product pages, each with a check date. The math is shown line by line so you can verify it. Then a named human reviews the page before it publishes. If a lender changes its program, the citation date tells you how fresh this page is.
Checked before it publishes.
Review process: a named reviewer checks each guide before it publishes (see How we check the numbers).
Logical proof: every assumption sits on the screen next to the result it feeds. Change the hold period and watch both totals move. Change the rate and watch the gap flip. Nothing hides in a black box.
Under 2 minutes to your first answer.
- Enter your home price and down payment for each loan option.
- Enter a rate for the physician loan and a rate for the conventional loan. Use quotes you received or a hypothetical pair to explore.
- Set the years you expect to hold the home.
- Read both totals on the page. No email needed to see the answer.
- Optional: email yourself the plan. One email, the "where did you hear about us" question, unsubscribe anytime.
Questions buyers ask.
Is a physician loan considered a conventional loan?
No. Most conventional loans follow Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac guidelines and usually charge mortgage insurance below 20% down3. Physician loans are usually lender-specific programs that typically waive that insurance at 0 to 10% down2. Compare totals in the calculator above, not labels.
Who qualifies for a physician loan?
Typically doctors, dentists, and other clinicians with a resident, fellow, or attending contract; credit and income screens vary by lender2. Down payments run 0 to 10% with waived mortgage insurance on most programs2. Confirm current terms on the lender's own product page before you apply.
Do physician loans have PMI?
Most physician mortgage programs waive mortgage insurance even with 0 to 10% down2. A conventional loan with a small down payment usually charges it until the balance falls to 80% of the home's original value if you ask to cancel, or automatically at 78%3. On a hypothetical $500,000 loan at 0.5%, that insurance costs about $2,500 a year1.
Do physicians get better mortgage rates?
Not necessarily. Physician loan rates can run higher than conventional rates; the savings usually come from the waived insurance and the low down payment, not the rate2. A small rate gap compounds into tens of thousands over a decade, so run both loans above before you choose by rate alone.
Is a physician loan a good idea?
It depends on your price, down payment, and how long you stay. The waiver beats conventional insurance charges when you put little down2, 3, but a higher physician-loan rate can erase that edge over a long hold. Type both options into the calculator and read which total is lower.
Run both loans with your numbers.
See which total is lower before you talk to a lender. It takes under 2 minutes.
Email me my planThe result is already on this page. The email only saves you a copy.
Sources
Every claim above traces to one of these primary pages, each opened and checked on the date shown.
- Mortgage insurance cost basics: CFPB: What is private mortgage insurance? Checked 2026-09-30.
- Physician-loan PMI waiver terms: Truist doctor loans, Huntington doctor loans, and Fifth Third physician loans (PMI waiver, 100% financing to $1M tiers, Fifth Third on slightly higher interest rate). Checked 2026-09-30.
- Conventional PMI cancellation at 20% equity: CFPB: When can I remove PMI? Checked 2026-09-30.