In Addition to Disability Insurance, Medical Residents Should Consider Some Other Coverage

Disability insurance for medical residents is very important as it protects your most valuable asset, your current and, possibly, future earnings. Even if you’re covered by a group disability policy provided by your medical school, hospital safety program, or other employer, you should also consider getting a personal disability insurance for resident physicians policy. There are two other important areas that you’ll want to consider.

• Professional liability insurance. Most experts recommend that you procure this coverage BEFORE you ever treat your first patient. As you are aware, your profession has been the subject of an escalating number of lawsuits in recent years. If you are like most medical residents, you have not yet accumulated a number of expensive “hard” assets (houses, autos, watercraft, etc.) that need protection, but your most important asset, future earnings, needs the best protection you can afford.
• Life insurance. As you are no doubt aware, life insurance rates are greatly influenced by age, occupation, and medical history. Even if you have not yet started a family or accumulated expensive assets, you might save many dollars in the future if you begin your life insurance program while still a resident physician. At a minimum, you may be able to lock in your rates at this younger age for some period in the future and/or guarantee insurability for long periods, maybe even with lifetime protection.

There are some other items you may want to consider, but these three (disability, liability, and life insurance) should be at the very top of your list of insurance coverages as you complete your residency. Wise decisions at this point of your life and career may pay handsome rewards for many years to come. Refer to your insurance policy contract for specific information regarding your coverage and for actual terms, conditions and exclusions. The above statements are general in nature and may or may not reflect the actual terms of your insurance policy.