Why cover this? A fundamental tenet of The Nerd's Guide to Pre-Rounding is that the habits you develop as a student will help or hinder you in residency and your later medical career. It has become clear to me that one important piece of fostering well-being for future physicians is to call attention to financial literacy – a quality in dwindling supply among post-Boomers used to living off credit cards. Just as a patient who ignores nagging chest pain may be headed for a major heart attack, a future doctor who ignores his financial picture may wake up down the road stuck with enormous monthly payments, debt loads, or bad credit. You may be blocked from professional or personal dreams.

Why doctors get into trouble. Personal finances lead to strife for many medical professionals. Why? One reason is hubris. Doctors, like many people, are often financially illiterate. However, unlike folks who may be willing to admit their ignorance and address it, doctors may have a hard time admitting they don't know everything. Some seem to think the two letters after their name make them experts in topics beyond medicine, such as business and finance. (If you don't believe this, I can show you an endless list of docs with private practices teetering on the brink of insolvency due to bad financial planning.) Physicians usually are intelligent folks used to mastering all sorts of complicated skills – why should finances be any different?