Funding your medical/dental school degree

Funding your medical/dental school degree can be difficult, especially during the current cost of living crisis, when essentials are more expensive than ever.

Qualifying and receiving your first pay packet as a junior doctor or dentist can feel a long way off!

There are several things you can do to help finance your degree.

Before embarking on your studies, you need to ensure that everything is place to fund your 5 to 6 years, and then be prepared to commit to it, even when things get tough.

If you’re not going to be able to fund your time at medical or dental school, one option can be to seek an alternative healthcare degree, such as paramedic studies, physician associate, nursing or midwifery. Many of these courses provide a salary from day one.

If you are still committed on being a doctor, there are several ways to help fund your studies:

• Although you may be wary of borrowing money, student loans are often an essential way of meeting the financial demands of university.
• Consider part-time employment during university holidays. Many people also take part-time work in the evenings, helping to pay for their weekly groceries, etc.
• Many students work as part-time tutors, coaching GCSE and A-level pupils. Many platforms allow you to advertise what you can offer, and pay can be a lot better, and the work often more interesting, than what you might earn from working shifts in a pub or restaurant.
• Learn to budget early. For many, this is the first time of having to learn to deal with money on a week-to-week or month-to-month basis. It is crucial to learn to live within your means. Setting yourself a budget, and monitoring it closely, allows you to finance your month-to-month expenses more easily, so that inevitable unexpected expenses can be better managed.
• Some universities provide travel grants travel for hospital or GP placements and are supportive in providing small bursaries for purchasing laptops and other study essentials.
• Increasingly, many universities make special provision to support lower-income household students achieve their goals.
• Some degrees can be fully funded through NHS bursaries. NHS Wales, for instance, wholly funds certain healthcare degrees, though then expects you to work for them for a period of time after qualifying.
• Mature students may have previous degrees or specialist skills which they can use to help fund their medical or dental studies.
• Although some medical and dental schools are not keen on students taking gap years, working for a year can be a good way of earning and saving money in preparation for your studies.
• If money is tight, consider doing a run-through degree, without an intercalated BSc. Not only will you start earning a year earlier, but you will have a year’s less borrowing to pay back. You can always consider postgraduate training later.
• If money is going to be tight, think carefully about where in the country you might want to study. London rents can be very expensive, but if you live close to your medical or dental school, you might not have to pay so much for travel, which can be expensive in other parts of the country if you do not live within close proximity.