Living Car-Free in Medical School

When reconsidering the role of an automobile during medical school, weigh the demands of scattered clinical rotations against the direct and opportunity costs of ownership and upkeep.  The Economical Academic poses useful questions to aid your decision.

2. If I lived in a place where I wouldn’t drive my car to work, what else would I use my car for? How much will I use it? How inconvenienced would I be if I didn’t have it for those things?

3. How expensive will it be to maintain a car where I am moving? Will my car insurance go up? State/county/city vehicle registration costs? Parking fees? Parking tickets? Gas prices? If you are moving across the country, how expensive will it be to tow/drive my car there?

4. How and how often will I travel outside my city? Can I travel by bus, train, or plane for trips that I might drive if I had a car? How expensive/inconvenient will it be to visit my family/significant other/best friend without a car?

When creating your cost estimates of ownership, do not forget to factor in the cost of parking and speeding tickets based on your personal driving history ($ per mile driven is a useful unit of measure).  The same estimate should be made for accident costs.
Deciding to be car-free [The Economical Academic]