Tuition Reimbursement for Medical School Students

Taj Singh, MD, took the circuitous route to becoming a doctor, starting out as a high school chemistry teacher before deciding to take the plunge at Temple/St. Luke’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

Now an internal medicine resident with St. Luke’s University Health Network, Singh is following in the footsteps of his father, who was a primary care physician in Mahanoy City, and his sister, who is an oral surgeon.

While medical school is typically the start of a rewarding career, it’s an expensive first step. Debt accrual is a fact of life for many medical students; around 70% of medical school graduates nationwide carry some student loan debt accumulating from tuition, fees, and living expenses.

Singh and several of his Temple/St. Luke’s School of Medicine classmates were able to take advantage of a unique St. Luke’s debt relief program. It begins with a $20,000 “Match Award” stipend at the time of residency placement, and for those who choose to remain with St. Luke’s after completing their training, the program may provide up to $175,000 in total loan repayment support.

“The Network is really encouraging students who grew up here and went to medical school here to stay in the area with a financial incentive that gives the medical students and residents a backing to stay in this community,” said Singh, a graduate of Parkland High School and Muhlenberg College.

St. Luke’s established the Match Debt Relief Program in 2020 to provide tuition reimbursement to select medical students who choose to work at St. Luke's after graduation and pursue a career in family medicine or internal medicine. The program has since expanded to also include psychiatry and pediatrics.

The debt relief offered to each recipient depends upon the program and the years the student-turned-resident commits to continuing their career at the Network.

Before the match debt relief program, Temple/St. Luke’s medical students were already benefitting from significantly reduced tuition thanks to generous donors. The match debt relief program helps residents as they move through years of specialty training.

In 2025, Temple/St. Luke's graduates who received the match debt relief and are now St. Luke’s residents include Singh, Kyle Tio, MD, Brianna Talbot, MD, Roshanara Diaz Mejia, MD, Kelly Riccio, MD and Patrick Foran, MD. At least 20 medical student graduates-turned-residents have been benefactors of the program since 2020.

“It’s an incredible program,” Singh said. “It helps me to not worry about the financial part and allows me to put more of my efforts into patient care and our community. I grew up in this community and trained in this community that cares about me, and now I am able to give back to this same community. It is a special feeling. There is a significant financial burden to become a physician, and getting this financial assistance gives me that much more confidence to practice medicine in my home area.”