Student doctors are taking on part-time jobs or dropping out entirely due to burnout caused by long hours and a lack of funding in their final years, campaigners warned.
Third year medical student Jessie LaCourse, 22, can't see herself working in anything other than medicine, saying she "would love to be that person who is making a massive change by saving people's lives". But the cost of pursuing a degree has weighed on her mind since before she started at the University of Liverpool. Although Jessie is receiving £11,000 in finance for this year, medical students in their fifth and sixth years can claim a maximum of £6,458 a year in student loans and the NHS bursary. This is despite having to work 40-hour-per-week work placements for free.
Jessie, from Mossley Hill, said: "The whole financial situation is incredibly stressful. My travel bursary is £100 to cover the year, but obviously that isn't going to cover anything. That covered about 10 days of travel to [placement in] Chester. People who don't have any other kind of financial income are completely reliant on their maintenance loan, like me. It can be really stressful because you spend an incredible amount of time having to budget very carefully."
