Discriminant functions analyses of data from the 1983 survey of senior medical students by the Association of American Medical Colleges showed that the effects of scholarships must be taken into account when assessing the influence of indebtedness on medical students' career choices. Receipt of a federal scholarship, type of medical school attended (public or private), marital status, sex, and receipt of a nonfederal scholarship were found to be more powerful than indebtedness as predictors of whether the students preferred primary care or nonprimary care specialties. Receipt of a federal scholarship, type of school attended, and sex were found to be more powerful than indebtedness as predictors of whether the students preferred private clinical practice, salaried clinical practice in a hospital or clinic, salaried clinical practice in a public agency, or a nonclinical career. Indebtedness was found not to be a predictor of willingness to locate in a socioeconomically deprived area.