The Physician Loan, Explained for Tennessee
Program and regulatory figures verified October 9, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
The product is national. What it runs into in Tennessee is a county line worth $196,500 and a programme deadline tied to your graduation date.
What the product actually is
A portfolio mortgage for physicians and a short list of adjacent professions, built around one problem: a doctor's income arrives late and their debt arrives early.
Three things it does that agency financing does not do as easily:
- Qualifies you on a signed employment contract rather than pay stubs from a job you have not started.
- Works on a start date up to 150 days out, against roughly 90 for agency.
- Treats physician student debt differently in the debt-to-income calculation.
It is held in portfolio rather than sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which is why the terms are the lender's and why they change. We do not publish an eligible-degree list for that reason.
★★ The Tennessee thing to settle first: which county
In most states we build, the conforming loan limit is one number and the question never comes up. Tennessee is not most states.
14 of 95 counties carry a one-unit limit of $1,029,250. The other 81 carry $832,750. A $196,500 difference, and the line runs through the Nashville metro.
★ So the first question on a Tennessee physician file is not "how much do you earn". It is "which county". The 14.
★★ The second: are you still in training?
Because if you are a family medicine resident, Tennessee has $200,000 available to you that stops being available the day you finish.
| Family Medicine Incentive | TSLRP | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum | ★ $200,000 | $50,000 |
| Per year | $40,000 × 5 | then up to $20,000/yr |
| Open to | family medicine residents | primary care generally |
| Apply | ★ intern year to end of residency | while the cycle is open |
| Site test | approved Tennessee location | an HPSA site |
The third: your student loan payment
Not the balance. Debt-to-income is built from monthly obligations, and that is where physician programmes differ most from agency underwriting. How it is counted.
★ What it is not
- Not a grant, and not down payment assistance.
- Not a rate you can look up. We publish none; pricing is file-specific.
- Not automatic. Eligibility is a lender determination on documents.
- Not connected to the state programmes. We are the lender; the Department of Health and TNAFP run those.
The sequence that works
- Get the contract executed, with a start date and twelve-month compensation.
- Pull servicer statements for every student loan.
- If you are a family medicine resident, apply to the incentive before you finish training.
- Tell us the county, not just the city.
- Then talk about houses.
Mike Certo, NMLS #260555, Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855. (480) 296-6513 · mcerto@cfmtg.com.
Frequently asked questions
What is a physician loan?
A portfolio mortgage for physicians and some adjacent professions that qualifies a borrower on a signed employment contract rather than pay stubs, works on a start date up to 150 days out, and treats physician student debt differently in the debt-to-income calculation. It is held by the lender rather than sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.What should a Tennessee physician settle first on a mortgage?
Which county. Fourteen of Tennessee's ninety-five counties carry a 2026 one-unit conforming limit of $1,029,250 and the other eighty-one carry $832,750, a difference of $196,500. The line runs through the Nashville metro, so the county is an underwriting variable here rather than a formality.Is a physician loan the same as a state loan repayment programme?
No. The mortgage is the lender's product. The Tennessee State Loan Repayment Program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Health and the Family Medicine Loan Repayment Incentive runs through the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians. Neither is administered by Cornerstone.Which degrees qualify for a physician loan?
Eligible degrees are a lender term that changes between programmes and over time, so this site does not publish a list. Send your credential and start date and we will tell you which current programmes accept it.Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about physician mortgage financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax or financial advice. The Tennessee State Loan Repayment Program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Health and the Family Medicine Loan Repayment Incentive through the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians, neither by Cornerstone; their terms, award amounts and application cycles are set by those bodies and change. Figures here carry the date we verified them against the programmes' own published materials. Physician-loan program terms, eligible degrees and overlays are set by the lender and change. All loans are subject to borrower, property and program qualification.