Michael Jerkins, MD, M.Ed.,
President and Co-founder of Panacea Financial

Medical training prepares you to take exceptional care of patients, but it often leaves little time to focus on the financial side of your life, leading to unnecessary stress. Here’s what you need to know about equipping yourself with the financial knowledge and tools you need. 

Highly Trained in Medicine, Not Finance 

Medical education is extensive. Four years of medical school, three to seven years of residency, and sometimes an additional fellowship leave little room for anything outside clinical training. Financial literacy, like budgeting, investing, understanding loan repayment strategies, and tax planning, typically isn’t part of the curriculum. The consequences of this can compound quickly. 

Physicians emerge from medical school carrying an average of $250,000 in student loan debt, enter their peak earning years well into their 30s, and face a financial landscape that is uniquely complex, all with no formal preparation. 

Without guidance, physicians may make financial decisions reactively rather than strategically: overspending during the “relief” of attending income, unknowingly falling victim to lifestyle creep, or choosing banking and lending products never designed for the realities of clinical life. 

What Financial Literacy Actually Looks Like for Doctors 

Financial literacy for physicians isn’t about clipping coupons or following generic budgeting apps. It’s about understanding the specific landscape you operate in: how loan forgiveness programs interact with your employment type, what a practice partnership buy-in means for your taxes, and how irregular call schedules make traditional banking actively work against you. 

Research has found that after completing a structured financial literacy curriculum, physician trainees reported an improvement in their sense of overall well-being. Financial education can reduce anxiety, increase job satisfaction, and buffer against burnout while improving financial security. 

The good news: the gap is closeable. A few foundational principles like spending below your means in early attending years, automating savings, and aligning your banking and lending with your actual income patterns can dramatically change your long-term financial trajectory. But those principles need to be supported by tools that actually fit a physician’s life. 

Start With the Infrastructure That Works for You 

Every strong financial plan starts at the foundation. Before optimizing investments or refinancing loans, physicians need a banking relationship built around the realities of their schedule: irregular pay cycles, overnight shifts, and no time to call a bank during business hours. Many traditional banking products weren’t designed with any of that in mind. 

Physicians can build financial stability by choosing tools that work for their lives and build from there. That starts with something as basic and as important as where your money lives. 

How Panacea Financial Can Help 

Financial stress impacts well-being, and most physicians were never given the tools to manage it. Panacea’s checking account is the foundation doctors deserve, one that fits your schedule, your income patterns, and the rest of your financial life. 

• Bank around your schedule: Designed for long shifts and irregular pay cycles 

• 24/7/365 support: Whenever you need it, not just during bankers’ hours 

• All-in-one platform: Checking, personal lending, and practice financing 

• No hidden fees, no minimum balances after account opening, and no stress 

Build your financial foundation and access financial education resources today at panaceafinancial.com. 

Panacea Financial is a division of Primis. Member FDIC. 

About Michael Jerkins, MD, M.Ed. 

Michael is the President and Co-founder of Panacea Financial and is also a practicing physician in Little Rock, AR. After earning his BBA in Economics he deferred his medical school acceptance to teach middle school science in the Phoenix, AZ area while also earning his Masters in Education from Arizona State University. He then completed medical school at the 

University of Tennessee Health Science Center before finishing his residency at University of Cincinnati Medical Center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. With a faculty position and board certifications in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Michael is able to treat patients of all ages and teach medical trainees in both inpatient and outpatient settings.