Doctors increasingly vulnerable to financial difficulties, study finds

Medical students and doctors are coming under increasing financial pressure, which could have a negative impact on mental health and workforce issues, according to a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The authors identified five key issues which may contribute to financial difficulty, including physical and psychological factors (such as illness or poor mental health), social factors (such as a lack of financial support from family members), financial reasons (such as debt from university and training costs) and professional factors (e.g. being suspended from work by GMC).

The study highlights that financial difficulty can occur at any stage in a doctor’s career, but there are concerns that high financial costs of training to be a doctor could act as a significant barrier to people hoping to join the medical workforce.

Professor Ann Griffin (UCL Medical School), senior author of the study, said: “Though medicine ultimately becomes a well-paid profession, this isn’t necessarily the case early on.”

“If we are to make it so that anyone with the ability can become a doctor regardless of how wealthy their family is, not to mention address the 10% staffing shortfall in the NHS, we need to seriously consider the findings of this study,” she added.

Trainee doctors can leave university with £100,000 worth of debt

Indeed, foundation year doctors can have student debt as high as £100,000. Even once they have completed university, trainee doctors will incur membership fees and costs for exams and courses.

Doctors also have to pay an annual registration fee to the GMC of £420 annually, while for surgeons, the completion of membership of the Royal College of Surgeons qualification (A and B) costs £1,295.

Since trainee doctors have a high work load and are required to work long shifts, most will be unable to gain additional work to help with living costs.

All of these factors combined can make it very difficult for those who cannot rely on support from family members to sustain a job in medicine.

Further investigation needed so financial support is provided to those who need it

But it is not just junior doctors who are affected. Doctors who come to the UK from overseas will face high costs to set up their life in the UK, and may also incur visa costs and legal fees.

Furthermore, at any stage in their career, doctors can find themselves short on work if they get suspended by the GMC or have to reduce their hours to help care for a friend or family member, for example.

Health issues can also force doctors to take time off work, something which has become particularly prevalent since the Covid pandemic. The pandemic has meant that many healthcare professionals have been impacted by Long Covid, burnout, and poor mental health.

Dr Asta Medisauskaite (UCL Medical School), joint first author, says this perfect storm is putting “increasing financial pressure” on medical students and doctors alike, and further investigation into financial need in medicine is now needed so that governments can match the support required.

“We also need more open conversations about financial need, which still carries a stigma that may discourage people from seeking support,” she said.

This is particularly pertinent at a time when junior doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have been striking, in a demand more pay from the government.

The authors are now calling on health leaders to “seriously consider the findings” of the study so that anyone, regardless of their personal or familial wealth, can become a doctor.