Getting a Loan

Question: I would like to obtain a small loan. Do you know of private lenders?

Answer: Plenty of banks are happy to have physicians as customers and hopefully will be willing to build a long-term relationship with you. Those with “private banking” divisions may be more accustomed to working with physicians in the earlier stages of their careers; most major banks have these departments, although local tellers and managers may not know about them.

Finally, I’ve heard lately of people in all sorts of businesses, including physicians, having success with services like prosper.com. You post a plan outlining what you need the funds for and people bid to pitch in the money. Basically, it’s an online micro-loan community. (Answer provided by Physicians Practice’s Laurie Hyland Robertson.)