If you’re a resident or fellow with an accepted contract, a thin savings account and a large student-loan balance, price Fellowship’s MedPro physician loan program first. Eligible borrowers may qualify for up to 100% financing on a primary residence, and eligible loans don’t require mortgage insurance. A conventional mortgage is the stronger play once you’ve saved a 20 percent down payment and plan to stay in the house for years, because you’d skip mortgage insurance anyway and you’d carry a smaller balance from the first payment. The difference lands in two spots: the cash you hand over at closing, and whether a mortgage-insurance line rides inside your monthly payment.
Neither one is automatically cheaper. They’re built for different moments in a medical career, and the better answer shifts as your cash position and your credentials change.
A physician loan and a conventional mortgage, side by side
| Criterion | FHL MedPro physician loan | Conventional mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Down payment | Eligible borrowers may qualify for up to 100% financing on the purchase of a primary residence. | You fund the down payment yourself, and 20 percent is the line where mortgage insurance stops applying. |
| Mortgage insurance | Eligible loans do not require mortgage insurance. | Typically, a down payment under 20 percent means paying for mortgage insurance. |
| Loan amount ceiling | The program can support loan amounts up to $2,000,000 for qualified borrowers. | MedPro’s $2,000,000 program limit doesn’t apply, and your limit depends on the loan you qualify for. |
| Eligible borrower | Guidelines account for eligible physicians, dentists, pharmacists, veterinarians, podiatrists, CRNAs, residents, fellows, and interns. | There’s no profession requirement to meet. |
| Rate structure | The program may offer fixed-rate or ARM options. | Fixed-rate and adjustable-rate structures are both available. |
Every MedPro line in that table carries the same condition: borrowers must meet program, credit, income, employment, property, and state-specific requirements. Nothing above is an approval.
Down payment: what you bring to closing
Fellowship’s page states that eligible borrowers may qualify for up to 100% financing on a purchase or rate-and-term refinance of a primary residence. For someone finishing training, that reframes the whole timeline. The purchase stops being gated on how long it takes to build a down payment fund, and starts depending on whether the file clears the program’s credit, income, employment and property requirements.
A conventional mortgage asks the opposite question first. How much have you saved? That number sets your loan size, and it also decides whether mortgage insurance attaches. If you’ve already got 20 percent sitting in an account, the conventional path uses cash you’ve earned instead of interest you’ll pay.
Mortgage insurance: who the premium protects
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau puts the conventional rule plainly: “Typically, borrowers making a down payment of less than 20 percent of the purchase price of the home need to pay for mortgage insurance.” It’s worth knowing who that premium is for. The same guidance says “Mortgage insurance, no matter what kind, protects the lender – not you – in the event that you fall behind on your payments.”
So a conventional buyer with 10 percent down is adding a monthly line item that buys them no coverage. If you want the fuller picture on what conventional mortgage insurance actually costs, that’s the piece to read before you settle on a down payment target.
MedPro’s stated term is the direct counterpoint. Per Fellowship’s program page, “Eligible loans do not require mortgage insurance, which can help keep monthly payments more manageable.” That’s a structural difference in how the payment is assembled, not a promise about any particular borrower’s number.
Student debt and income: where conventional underwriting gets tight
Here’s the part that catches trainees off guard. A student loan you aren’t paying down yet can still count against you. Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide on monthly debt obligations tells lenders that “the lender may calculate a payment equal to 1% of the outstanding student loan balance (even if this amount is lower than the actual fully amortizing payment), or a fully amortizing payment using the documented loan repayment terms.”
On a large deferred balance, that 1% can add hundreds of dollars a month to the debt a conventional lender counts in your ratio — money leaving no account anywhere. For a resident with a real salary coming and a residency-sized paycheck now, that math is unkind. It’s the single biggest reason a strong future earner can look weak on paper, and it’s covered in more depth in this breakdown of how student loans actually factor into a mortgage application.
One honest caveat. Fellowship’s MedPro page doesn’t publish a different debt calculation, so don’t assume one exists. What it does say is that “FHL MedPro helps eligible medical professionals explore home financing designed around their career path, earning profile, and homeownership goals,” and that guidelines account for medical trainees with accepted employment terms or active contracts.
The $2,000,000 ceiling, and who’s on the eligibility list
MedPro has a stated roof: “The program can support loan amounts up to $2,000,000 for qualified borrowers.” Above that, the program’s own terms don’t reach, and a conventional conversation is the one to have. The program is also built for a 1-unit primary residence, so a second home or a rental sits outside it.
The eligibility list is specific. As stated on the program page:
- Physicians: MD, DO, and eligible specialties such as ophthalmology or psychiatry.
- Dental & Pharmacy Professionals: DDS, DMD, and PharmD borrowers.
- Veterinarians, Podiatrists & CRNAs: DVM/VMD, DPM, and eligible CRNA borrowers with DNAP or DNP credentials.
- Residents, Fellows & Interns: Medical trainees with accepted employment terms or active contracts.
If your credential isn’t on that list, the comparison is over before it starts.
Choose MedPro if, choose conventional if
You’re a second-year resident with an accepted contract and almost nothing saved. This is the situation MedPro’s stated terms were shaped for. Up to 100% financing for eligible borrowers removes the down payment as the gating item, and no mortgage insurance on eligible loans keeps a premium off the monthly payment. Start there.
You’re an established physician with 20 percent saved and a strong credit profile. Lean conventional and make MedPro prove it’s better. You’d avoid mortgage insurance either way, and the conventional loan starts smaller. Over a long hold, a smaller balance is hard to beat.
You’re buying above $2,000,000. MedPro’s stated ceiling doesn’t reach your purchase, so the physician loan question answers itself.
You’re a PharmD, CRNA, DVM or DPM who assumed “physician loan” meant physicians only. Read the list again. Eligible borrowers in those credentials are accounted for in the guidelines, subject to the same program, credit, income, employment and property requirements as anyone else.
Where a physician loan isn’t the automatic answer
No down payment doesn’t mean no cost. It means a bigger balance. Financing 100% of the purchase price puts more principal on the books from the start, and more principal means more interest paid across the life of the loan. That’s the tradeoff for keeping cash in your pocket at closing, and it’s a fair trade for a lot of trainees — but it’s a trade, not a discount.
The eligibility list is narrow by design, too. And conventional mortgage insurance isn’t a permanent fixture of a loan, so the long-run comparison shifts again once it comes off a conventional payment. A buyer with a strong score and 20 percent saved can land cheaper on the conventional side over a full term.
Our recommendation at Fellowship Home Loans — where we have many years of experience in helping get home purchasers into their dream houses — is to run both paths side by side before you assume either one is better for your file, because we take a number of factors into consideration when looking at your mortgage application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can MedPro be used for a refinance, or only a purchase?
Both are in scope. The program’s stated terms cover eligible borrowers purchasing or refinancing a 1-unit primary residence, and up to 100% financing is stated for a purchase or a rate-and-term refinance.
Do residents and fellows need to already be drawing a paycheck?
The guidelines account for medical trainees with accepted employment terms or active contracts. An accepted contract is part of the stated picture, though every file still has to meet the program’s income and employment requirements.
Does the program work for a vacation home or an investment property?
No. FHL MedPro is built for a 1-unit primary residence, so a second home or a rental falls outside the program.
Before you start touring houses
The comparison is easier to make before you’ve fallen for a kitchen. Bring your contract or offer letter, a rough student-loan balance and your credit picture, and talk with a Fellowship loan officer about MedPro so you can see how the physician loan and the conventional path each read against your file.
Nothing here is a commitment to lend. FHL MedPro is available to eligible borrowers who meet program, credit, income, employment, property, and state-specific requirements, and eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis.
