70% of medical students go without basic essentials, reveals survey
January 2019 - Education
70% of medical students go without basic essentials: A survey of medical students for the British Medical Association (BMA) has found seven out of ten students are unable to afford basic everyday necessities.
The poll (carried out every 3 - 5 years) found that in order to get by financially, medical students were forsaking essentials such as food, heating and professional clothing to make ends meet.
The survey also found that over half of those polled believed they would run out of money before the academic year closed – down from 40% in the last survey carried out in 2013 (of which only first-year students were polled).
More than half of the students polled (54.6% ) said they were considering working part-time to help raise additional funds.
The financial strain for 68% of students was more than they had anticipated, while for 5.5% the economic strain was enough to make them consider walking away from their course.
Seven out of ten (70.5%) said that despite the financial pressures, they would still choose to go to medical school if they had the chance to choose a course again - down from 80% in the 2013 survey.
The poll of 639 students also shed light on debt – with an average debt of £43,700 expected by the time they complete their education - £38,406 of that being made up of their student loan.
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