Struggling to make ends meet as a junior doctor. AIBU?

[HK3444]

Struggling to make ends meet. Rent has gone up, food bills are going up and struggling to support my kids.

I’m someone worked really hard through medical school, it felt like endless exams and accumulated student debt with the hope that I’d be able to support my family comfortably at the end of the degree and but also feel job satisfaction bettering the health of others.

Not sure what this was all for… can’t believe I’m in this situation as a doctor

We are getting there aren't we!

Yes exactly, its called negotiation, 12.4% plus a deal on pay restoration, its doable if the Tories were serious.

No, they will be in the second year of A levels. They have to apply by October of that year. Most will be 17 years old at that point (apart from those with a September or early October birthday)

How the fuck do you bride 12.4% and a 35% divide?

We are not getting there at all!

How can consultants earning almost 100k say they can’t afford to live and rely on their husbands earnings

DH’s consultant salary is over £120k with a 50% final salary pension and a healthy PP.

@Newchapterbeckons Of course it does! 6 years of med school. Foundation years. Exams ( may take years). Specially training (many years). Overseas fellowships. Research/ PHD years. Mat leave.

Where’s the money coming from for 35% over time plus huge increase in staff over the next decade?

Maybe they could leave some prawns in the curtains, commit to it and let Labour say where from

We had plenty 17 year olds at university. I remember we had to lie about our age on the student card or we got a big orange sticker over our face on the card so couldn't buy alcohol.

My friends daughter want to be a doctor it has been repeatedly drummed into her
that you take an enormous hit at the beginning of your career
but over your working life it will balance out
but be very prepared to take the hit

• bridge

I can see how that’s possible if they live in London or the South East

A doctor working erratic hours would need a nanny for childcare, because the set hours of nursery won’t work.

They will need to live fairly near their hospital so they can get their relatively quickly when needed

They will need to run a car so they can travel in and out of work at hours when public transport isn’t running

They are required to pay their insurance, registration fees, exams etc from their own salary

They have to pay the set pension amount

Nanny - £3k/month
Reliable car - £500+ month
hospital parking - £200? a month
Professional fees - £500 a month

That leaves £1200 a month to pay rent/mortgage, bills, pension, food, savings

Of course they will need to rely on someone to else’s salary to be able to live

Although i agree junior doctors should be higher paid lets not lose sight that 29k is a damn good starting salary and not many fresh graduates will get anywhere near that.
many seem to think that graduates walk in to a 50k job off the bat and get a 6 figure salary by the age of 40. I'm not saying that never happens but is rare (mostly on mumsnet)

So not a junior doctor just starting out.

The £14 p/h has been repeatedly disproved, with figures to support, on this thread and yet you are quoting it as gospel.

@Newchapterbeckons I understand your outrage over the risks of the strikes to the health of the general public.

BUT....I don't think you fully understand some of the things you're arguing.

No one is asking for a straight up 35% rise. They are asking for a rise and then salary to be rectified over the coming years. That should then meet the 35%.

17 year old may not be "going into medicine" as in they are not practicing doctors. But they are applying to university courses to start medical degrees in order to go into medicine. Some people have been preparing for it since they were much younger.

Strikes are usually a last resort of any workforce. Not a single one of those doctors is striking because they don't care about the patients. They're striking because their working conditions have deteriorated over time and no one has done anything to stop that.

Based on some of the answers on this thread, the starting salary of a JD is less than that of an accounting graduate. Now I'm not saying accountants don't deserve the salary. But, based on the responsibility placed on doctors, actual peoples lives depending on them, do you not think this is the wrong way round? Trainee managers at Aldi earn more and the salary progression is also pretty good.

The professional memberships and insurances also have to come out of that salary. So it's reduced even before they start on their bills. If we want doctors to be available to treat us, they need to be able to support themselves and their families.

I'm not saying strikes are a perfect way to go about anything, and I do worry about being able to get treatment for me and my family if we need it. But, how they have gotten to this point is a LOT more complicated than you are making it out to be.

A nanny? An expensive car? Parking is generally free.

@Newchapterbeckons I went to medical school at 17!

And had my DD got in at that stage she would also have gone to medical school at 17 (she didn't, so did a biomed degree from 17, then med school later).

Newchapterbeckons if you don't know what professional fees are, do you actually have enough knowledge to comment?

A nanny, would be because of unsocial hours. Most people need a car.

Newchapterbeckons hospital parking for staff is not free. Not in the hospitals I've worked in

Parking is also not free, its one of the scandals of the nhs.

Do you know anything?

I have been a doctor in the NHS for over 35 years. Never had free parking once.

Patients dying is never ever an acceptable outcome for pay demands.

The 35% pay rise whether instant or accumulating over years is still 35% - it makes no difference- the public will still have to pay it - and we simply can not afford it.

Every NHS employee will expect the same? Can you not see that?

It’s tens of billions and and utterly unaffordable.

Whilst many students my dd included achieve incredible results, and can take any course they like, in medicine or otherwise - most are savvy enough to consider starting salaries and future earnings.

Exactly!

Let's focus on their massive future earning potential not what they start on, which as has been said is a 100% supervised role.

That rich consultant in their massive house? They started out on a starting salary too once.

Based on some of the answers on this thread, the starting salary of a JD is less than that of an accounting graduate

The accounting graduate won’t receive any extra payment for antisocial hours or weekends. The JD’s are less than transparent about the enhancements they receive. For most graduates, the basic salary is all they get for the hours necessary to do the job. Same applies to law, where the law society recommends a minimum graduate salary of £26k in London.

@Newchapterbeckons Well the whole point is that it isn't just like that when you stress just starting out. You are stuck in this situation for years and years.