@HK3444 I am so sorry that you are going through this. If you are a “junior” doctor now then you probably applied to medical 8 - 18 years ago and things have changed so much since then. Wages have barely gone up in £ terms, and after inflation it looks appalling. I think the FT had a good graph to show how low doctors wages have dropped in comparison to the general public and even their other NHS colleagues. From what I read in the Financial Times, by inflation-adjusted standards your wage should be 30-50% higher and it’s even more extreme for the consultants. It’s no wonder that your money isn’t stretching far, and you had no way of predicting how bad this would be when you first applied to medical school. Unfortunately you won’t have the pension to look forward to that older (age 50+) consultants have either. I’m sorry to be so bleak.
My husband, now in his 40s, left medicine 3 years ago (after an impressive career) to start his own business and although it was a big risk at the time, it’s the best thing that ever happened to us. Our lives are transformed now and for the next generation. I can’t imagine how hard it would be for us now. His career was breaking all of us. We still struggle to talk to one another now about just how bad it was, so I won’t post here when some people are so unsympathetic. The short notice rotations to a new hospital 80 miles from us with just a week’s notice, while studying for exams that he paid £1000s for, the relentless shifts that never ended when they should, and the shocking way that people treat NHS staff. I don’t know why British people hate doctors so much. They are so dedicated, they (and their families) sacrifice so much for their patients, and it is totally reasonable to expect good compensation. It shouldn’t be charity work but that’s basically what it has become. I can’t imagine how much worse it is now for doctors graduating with 100k debt with high interest rates.
Husband recommended the royal medical benevolent fund to help you get through this rough patch. Have you applied to them?
https://rmbf.org/
Can you move? His specialty makes about $600k in other countries but here in the UK on his NHS salary we couldn’t support the 2 children we have now, including childcare and adequate help, which we absolutely needed as it took such a toll on us both. We have too many family commitments here towards elderly relatives so we felt really stuck, but the government is counting on that. Get out if you can.
Again I am really sorry to be so bleak, but reading your post and writing this now has just brought so much flooding back. Oh my god I could write forever on this but this post is already too long and upsetting. I hope you’re okay.