So I start medical school in a few weeks.  Its going to be 4 years and its going to be intense in terms of time, effort, commitment.

Went to undergrad and then graduate school and graduated with a Masters degree in 2006.

Laid off from industry I was employed in in 2010.

After brutal analysis, decided to switch professions and pursue medical school, so I had to go back to undergrad and basically redo 3 years of it in the sciences.

Now, just getting in was difficult enough.  I need to start out on the right foot of course.  Student loan trouble is going to drain me of time/ effort/ brain space I do not have to waste.

At this point I have ~80k in gov student loans and ~22k in private loans.  The ~22k in private loans is all from earning my Masters back in 2006.

Discover Loans bought out Citibank recently.  They are the ones I owe 22k.  Got off the phone with them yesterday and they say they can no longer defer the loans and payments are due starting now.  I am already robbing Peter to Pay Paul to get through med school (~300K in tutition and fees and living expenses these days).  Ideas for dealing with this moving forward?

Also, will the gov keep my loans in deferment for the next four years while I am in medical school full time?