@Nicholas Mangiafico First off, congratulations on starting your career as a pharmacist! You're in a really good spot as a DINK (duel-income, no kids). Additionally, if your student loans are subsidized / unsubsidized loans, your interest is far less than inflation, so I wouldn't be focused on paying those loans off.
Here's what I think, I would encourage you to find a hard money lender that has a good reputation in town. Here's why, if the hard money lender is experienced and willing to sign off on the loan, then you know the deal is legitimate. (This is actually advice Brandon gave in one of his books on a flip that went poorly).
As far as the strategy goes, monthly furnished rentals (especially through the Airbnb platform) is my favorite rental strategy. You have responsible tenants, highly inelastic demand, the presence of healthcare drastically reduces vacancy risk, and you don't ever need to show units (tire kickers galore for nicer units).
Another plus with the BRRRR model is highly distressed properties are ideal. Now if you don't have reno experience, this can be a negative. However, the advantage is that you have more flexibility to position the property with nicer finishes and change floor plans to make the property more valuable (add a bathroom, expand the kitchen, etc). I think one risk with BRRRR is if you don't find a property at a good discount or with sufficient distress, you could do a full reno with hard money and then not see a high enough appraised value to address the loan.
One final thought on the question to leverage or save is that one of the most attractive aspects of real estate is how conducive it is to leverage. Unlike other assets and businesses, banks and private lenders will readily lend 60%-100% of the after repair value of the asset. Leverage is critical because it magnifies either your gains or losses - it's really a question of your confidence in the deal, your ability to execute, and your tolerance for risk.