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Medical students face debts of £67,000 if cap on fees is abolished
Anna Davis2 Apr 2009
LONDON hospitals will miss out on talented undergraduates as medical school debts soar to £67,000, doctors warned today.
The British Medical Association said trainee doctors in London will face the huge debts if the current cap on tuition fees is lifted next year.
The rising cost of training would put off students from lower income backgrounds and leave the NHS staffed disproportionately by doctors from wealthy backgrounds, experts said.
Medical students from poorer families are already at risk of dropping out of courses because their parents can no longer support them during the credit crunch, a spokesman for the BMA said.
There are also fears that medical students will find it more difficult to secure loans and find part-time jobs to support themselves as a result of the current downturn.
Tom Foley, a 27-year-old trainee doctor and BMA spokesman on medical student finance, said: "As unemployment rises and economic problems increase it is likely that lower income families will have less money to spend helping their children through medical school. Students are also finding it more difficult to get study loans from banks -something that I could not have got through university without - and may find it increasingly challenging to get part-time work or work in term breaks as everyone scrambles for a limited number of vacancies."
Currently tuition fees are capped at £3,145 a year. Medical students leave university with an average £21,000 debt. They face higher costs because their degrees run for longer.
The government will review the cap on tuition fees this year. If the cap is lifted altogether some universities are expected to charge anything from £4,000 to £20,000 a year. This will leave average medical school debt at £67,000 when living costs are taken into account, the BMA said.
The BMA's national student debt report, which will be published tomorrow, surveyed medical students and found only five per cent were from a semi or unskilled background, while seven per cent have parents who are skilled tradespeople.
It also found parents of medical students give their children on average £3,000 a year to live on, while those from poorer backgrounds get £2,100.
Mr Foley said: "Entry to medicine should be based on merit, not on the size of someone's bank balance."
Medical student Louise Mcmenemy, 23, from King's College school of medicine, said she can afford to study only because she is being sponsored by the Royal Navy. It means she must work for the Navy for seven years before going into the NHS.
She said: "I get a £14,000-a-year salary from the Navy which means I no longer have to work in the evenings while I am studying. For the health profession to be successful we need it to represent the population it serves."
Reader views (9)
I'm thinking of doing a medical degree to become a Doctor. I work for the NHS at the moment and the money is very poor. Also pushing 40 with a young family, i'm no spring chicken. What do I do?
- Matthew, Birmingham, 17/08/2009 22:13
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"In the states, average med school tuition is $40,000 per year. This does not include room and board (12,000) fees and books (5,000)....."
But in the US, attendings (equivalent of UK consultants) earn between $250,000 to $500,000. Most US medical graduates will become attendings (consultants) within 6-years of graduating. In the UK, it takes more like 13-years to become a consultant and salaries are something akin to $120,000 (£70,000). Some in the South can supplement NHS salaries with private practice but there's little private practice in the North and many specialties have little potential, how many paediatricians of geriatricians do private practice?
Trish, we have a publicly funded health-care service in the UK where the salaries don't even begin to compare with the US. Yet we seem to be heading towards a US style higher education system with massive student doubt.
Still, I'm not concerned, with US style higher education debt, it won't be long before medical graduates start expecting US salaries or leave the profession / country. Already specialties with less potential for private practice (such as paediatrics) are having trouble recruiting.
Trust the politicians to ruin a system that used to work alright, soon we'll all have to pay.....
- Aa, Newcastle, UK, 15/04/2009 13:43
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Mike is correct in saying that the basic salary of an FY1 doctor (at just over £21k) is lower than that of other graduates with similar qualifications. At present junior doctors can earn a percentage above this basic salary according to a 'banding' system which is dependent on hours and on-call worked. As of August this year, the European Working Time Directive is applicable to junior doctors who will not be able to work longer than 48 hours a week on average. All jobs will therefore be 'unbanded' and thus paid at the basic salary. The burden of increasing student debt is therefore even more relevent. I think the majority of people would rather be treated by doctors who had been selected for qualities other than their ability to afford the fees.
- Alex, London, 07/04/2009 00:37
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Figure published by the Department of Health last week (http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/workforce/nhs-staff-earnings/nhs-staff-earnings-october-december-2008) show that last year junior doctors earned on average £31,400 in their first year after qualifying and £42,200 in their second year. So Mike's hardly sharing the full picture when he quotes their basic salary...
- Nigel, London, UK, 06/04/2009 09:45
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In the states, average med school tuition is $40,000 per year. This does not include room and board (12,000) fees and books (5,000).
Law school is the same.
- Trish, Cherry Hil USA, 02/04/2009 17:20
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Let us not forget that students from poor families pay no fees and are eligible for grants. It may be an opportune time to repeat the old joke about the Jewish mother of a new USA president on inauguration day. Madam, you must be proud of your son. Yes I am but you should see his brother he's a doctor. Many a true word said in jest.
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England, 02/04/2009 14:26
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George, it is a shame in itself that you hold this ignorant perception of Doctors' wealth but what is even more of a shame is the endemic nature of this ignorance within the general population.
Firstly £67,000 isn't the cost of training a Doctor (that sum is much higher), it is the level of personal debt that will be incurred by the average medical student.
What you are clearly unaware of is that many students graduating today will not end up in consultant posts and a significant number will in fact never be able to pay off their debts. Equally, Doctors' salaries are not as generous as you seem to believe. In fact the basic pay of a first year doctor is below the average graduate starting salary having trained for often twice the length of time. Then try comparing the income of senior Doctors with professions of similar qualifications (e.g. lawyers and accountants) and their pay is pitiful.
It's about time the public was made aware of the realities of Doctors' income and the true state of debt many incur whilst juggling their stressful studies with part time work in their struggle through medical school.
- Mike, Southampton, UK, 02/04/2009 13:09
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With lifetime earnings in excess of £4m for a doctor, I can't get worked up with indignation over training fees of £67K.
- George, London, 02/04/2009 12:06
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This is ridiculous. Doctors are amongst the hardest working most deserving category of employees .... I suggest immediately halving MPs overstated pay and putting the saving towards medics' tuition.
- Marianne, SW France, 02/04/2009 10:44
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