The study published Tuesday by the British Medical Association said 61.8 % of those polled were struggling to afford essentials, while 53.6% said they had to work during terms to pay their bills. Most of those forced to work said this adversely affected their studies.
The BMA study also revealed that students eligible for National Health Service bursary found that it covered just 30% of their expenses. Students see their income drop further in the final two years of their studies when they are on clinical placements in the NHS and have less time to work.
BMA medical students committee co-chair Omolara Akinawonnu called the UK’s student finance system "broken and in urgent need of reform." She said that students saddled with "astronomical" debts were questioning their future in the NHS, which is already short of 8,000 doctors in England alone.
"This is no way to train our future doctors. We have a mental health emergency in universities that is about to implode as inflation skyrockets and the cost-of-living spirals out of control," she warned.
The survey of 1,119 medical students across the UK also found that almost 1 in 25 students reported accessing food banks. The funding shortfall was disadvantageous to the poorest students and jeopardizing their future careers in the NHS.