Newly qualified doctors are driving Ubers and working in bars to make ends meet as they face a “recurring cycle of debt”, the British Medical Association (BMA) says.
Students from poorer backgrounds are hit hardest, the union claims, as it calls on the Government to make a career in medicine accessible to people from as many backgrounds as possible.
Students in their final undergraduate year, along with those in the later years of a post-graduate medical degree, get a reduced student loan alongside an NHS bursary.
The British Medical Association says many young doctors are struggling. (Picture: Jeff Moore/PA)This leads to a £3,674 drop in funding on average, according to the BMA.
Sophie Mitchell from the BMA told the PA news agency: “A lot of people are using these loans in previous years to either pay their rent and to live off.
“Losing out on a significant portion of that is meaning that students are struggling.
“We’ve got people maxing out overdrafts, we’ve got people maxing out credit cards.
“We’ve got people going into very significant debt just to actually finish this degree.”
The average medical student faces 12 months of this reduced funding.
However, some post-graduate students, along with those on six-year degree programmes, face up to three years, Ms Mitchell said.
Some are them are also faced with relocation expenses ahead of starting their first job in the NHS.
“The issue with that is most academic years or final years start in around the middle of August,” Ms Mitchell said.
“You are then having this reduced rate of funding until you then get paid at the end of August the following year.
“I know that a lot of my colleagues have had to get loans to pay their rent, or they’ve had to get credit agreements so that they can pay their rent.
“Also then having to relocate to a new place where you’re getting this reduced rate of funding has been a struggle for a lot of people.
“A lot of my friends were already graduating, maxing out their overdrafts, and then they’ve had to get overdraft extensions to help them live until they get paid at the end of August.
“It’s creating this recurrent cycle of debt that people are really struggling to get out of until that first paycheck.”
Ms Mitchell said she knows of new graduates stewarding football matches or taking zero hours bar work to get by.
She added: “We have people working behind bars.
“We have people stewarding.
“One of my friends is actually working for Uber at the moment, because it was the only work that she could get that meant that she could get some employment in the area that she’s in.”
Ms Mitchell is heading the BMA’s Fix Our Finance campaign alongside co-chair Henry Budden.
“What people maybe aren’t so aware of is actually how intense our course is,” she said.
“You’re training for that role that you’re about to start, in hospital Monday to Friday, nine to five.
“Some universities make their students do night shifts (and some) make their students also do weekends on top of this.
“And then on top of that placement, where you’re learning to be a doctor, you’re also having to revise for your exams.”
The BMA is calling on the Government to ensure medical students receive full student finance maintenance for the entirety of their course.
The union claims this would cost the Treasury £24 million and just 0.12 per cent of Student Finance England annual lending.
Ms Mitchell warns the “situation isn’t sustainable” and “does nothing to help those from poorer backgrounds or improve participation in medicine”.
“Medicine is longer than many other degrees for good reason; because we want to ensure doctors working in the NHS have the best possible training,” they added.
“It is only right then that they should receive the appropriate funding to see them through the entirety of their course.”
With PA
Hence then, the article about the uber driving doctors trapped in a cycle of debt was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( The Uber-driving doctors trapped in a ‘cycle of debt’ )
Also on site :
- ‘The Sun Never Sets’ Review: Dakota Johnson and Jake Johnson Bring Warm Chemistry to Joe Swanberg’s Wishy-Washy Romantic Dramedy
- MSP vs ING Dream11 Prediction Today Match, Dream11 Team Today, Fantasy Cricket Tips, Playing XI, Pitch Report, Injury Update- Legends League Cricket 2026, Match 4
- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. Notice of April 6, 2026 Application Deadline for Class Action Lawsuit - Contact Lewis Kahn, Esq. at Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC, Before Application Deadline