Indebtedness and physician career choice or, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

The average level of indebtedness incurred by medical students and resident physicians has increased 4-fold since 1975. Many have argued that high levels of educational debt will distort physician career choices and harm the public good. In this article, it is argued - using basic economic theory and data from multiple sources - that these dire consequences have not happened and are unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future.