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Are all medical students better than the average student?

I’ve just seen a post on a Reddit thread where a final-year med student has hammered home about being unhappy with junior doctors’ salaries, and when another person has responded that FY1 starting salary is in line with the UK average, this person has basically said medical students/doctors are exceptional and should never be compared with anything average. Would you guys agree with this?

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Im a medical student. From what I've seen of friends from other courses, the workload is slightly higher in medicine. That being said, I've met a few numpties on my course, and what really confuses me is how they managed to get on it in the first place!
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymous
Im a medical student. From what I've seen of friends from other courses, the workload is slightly higher in medicine. That being said, I've met a few numpties on my course, and what really confuses me is how they managed to get on it in the first place!

I think the same. Absolutely Medicine has a really high courseload and requires a dedicated work ethic and hard graft, but some of my med student friends have this idea that they’ll be able to walk into any 80k per annum consulting/finance job once they graduate just by virtue of having studied Medicine.
It's a pointless comparison really. I flat shared with someone doing maths and engineering and there isn't a hope in hell I could've done their courses. I also only had to get basically 55% to get by in every written exam (which were nearly all multiple choice). I also didn't have to attend most of our lectures (I still did) because the content was otherwise easily available and it was also possible to do very little on clinical firms and still get by
Yes, of course, the degree you do is the defining feature of you as a human :rolleyes:

More seriously, though, while med school has very high academic entry requirements (still, AAA), that doesn’t make someone better. And it certainly doesn’t mean everyone on the degree is an exceptional genius! Plus, a big part of the selection process is checking you know what you’re getting yourself into...

I personally think all healthcare workers should have higher pay, or at least in line with inflation, (lol ofc I do I want to do medicine) but if anything doctors are fairly well paid, it’s care home workers, nurses, physios, HCAs who should be getting more for the vital work they do.
(edited 3 years ago)
In my opinion no one is better than anyone else.

Medicine has high entry requirements to some extent due to supply and demand . Whilst the course is intellectually stimulating, I am sure there will be subjects that are more challenging based on things I’ve heard.

I got a medicine offer and an in no way a genius!

I mean doctor base pay for FY1 is around about uk average salary and then whilst in training there are pay rises. If you wanted to have lots of money though as your number one priority you wouldn’t do medicine generally speaking.

There will be people in all walks of life that think they are better but personally I wouldn’t want to think about it like that
Reply 6
Original post by Anonymous
I’ve just seen a post on a Reddit thread where a final-year med student has hammered home about being unhappy with junior doctors’ salaries, and when another person has responded that FY1 starting salary is in line with the UK average, this person has basically said medical students/doctors are exceptional and should never be compared with anything average. Would you guys agree with this?


They should be considered and compared with anything average. Studying Medicine is one thing but then it gets real where you are directly responsible for people's health; the training doesn't stop - it's just a ticket to what I would consider is the proper beginning (being a Junior Doctor). They aren't yet competent and therefore, like any other student or new worker in any field, they should be considered to be average until they learn their trade and perform one of the most vital roles for societies well being independent of supervision - then they can have the big wage for their efforts.
Reply 7
Original post by becausethenight
Yes, of course, the degree you do is the defining feature of you as a human :rolleyes:

More seriously, though, while med school has very high academic entry requirements (still, AAA), that doesn’t make someone better. And it certainly doesn’t mean everyone on the degree is an exceptional genius! Plus, a big part of the selection process is checking you know what you’re getting yourself into...

I personally think all healthcare workers should have higher pay, or at least in line with inflation, (lol ofc I do I want to do medicine) but if anything doctors are fairly well paid, it’s care home workers, nurses, physios, HCAs who should be getting more for the vital work they do.

This. Healthcare workers should be much better paid in the UK to reflect the duration of training, responsibility, essential skills and unsocial hours, but I also recognise that a lot of those really high salaries in sectors like banking, consulting and technology may reflect more on the profitability of the private sector rather than necessarily the essential nature of the work (and a public sector monopoly employer is definitely not very profitable!)
Original post by Anonymous
I’ve just seen a post on a Reddit thread where a final-year med student has hammered home about being unhappy with junior doctors’ salaries, and when another person has responded that FY1 starting salary is in line with the UK average, this person has basically said medical students/doctors are exceptional and should never be compared with anything average. Would you guys agree with this?

They're right, although I don't know what they get paid - around £50k would seem reasonable to me, which I suspect is a lot more than they actually get. They haven't done a 3 year course, and had to achieve much higher the the average entry requirements. They also have to work insanely hard.

Some universities would have you believe that every student can achieve the same standard by the end of 3/4 years, regardless of their A level results. It simply isn't true - you won't get to study medicine with CCC for good reasons. Academic achievement is not the only required quality for any job, but Doctors have to meet a high bar, and should be paid for it.
Reply 9
The fairest initial comparison would be to compare salaries for people with 3 A's upwards in STEM subjects at A level who took full on, career related degrees. Then note that medics have to pass UKCAT (mostly?) which is a pretty good filter for motivation, energy and intellect on top of the A level requirements. They also need to get through interviews which shuts out the socially inept.

I don't know if doctors are underpaid compared with what they would earn elsewhere. My gut reaction is that the pay is fine to good if you want to work in the north or wales, not great for the South East.
Reply 10
Original post by Anonymous
Im a medical student. From what I've seen of friends from other courses, the workload is slightly higher in medicine. That being said, I've met a few numpties on my course, and what really confuses me is how they managed to get on it in the first place!

What courses are u comparing medicine to ?
English
Engineering
Maths
Sciences
Etc
they think they are god's gift the fact is that there are a huge number of people willing to train to become doctors so they don't have to pay them that much supply and demand.
Reply 12
In the U.K. salaries are set by NHS.

Not sure what foundation year 1 doctors get paid may have gone up now.

As for doctors wanting to go and get a job outside of medicine it seems a waste. Good luck getting £70-80k finance job even if you have studied medicine non-healthcare employers do not care.
Original post by Anonymous
I’ve just seen a post on a Reddit thread where a final-year med student has hammered home about being unhappy with junior doctors’ salaries, and when another person has responded that FY1 starting salary is in line with the UK average, this person has basically said medical students/doctors are exceptional and should never be compared with anything average. Would you guys agree with this?

The second you use the term 'all' in the question the answer has to obviously be 'no'.

But if we're looking at the average med student, then of course that is not a fair comparison no.

Even ignoring any arguments about being more qualified or having more responsibility, med students have had to study and work for 5/6 years in med school not only unpaid, but paying ~50k for the privilege. If they'd taken an entry level job at Aldi at 18 they might have had £200k+ cumulative earnings over that period!

Original post by Anonymous
I think the same. Absolutely Medicine has a really high courseload and requires a dedicated work ethic and hard graft, but some of my med student friends have this idea that they’ll be able to walk into any 80k per annum consulting/finance job once they graduate just by virtue of having studied Medicine.

I've not heard that argument before and never seen it on TSR.

What I do hear a lot is 'if I'd studied finance instead i would be earning 50k/60k etc'. Which isn't totally outlandish if you consider that by the time a med student is graduating, the finance graduate would have been working for 3 years, and a finance job paying £50k in year 4 isn't that nuts I don't think? Though to think you could 'definitely' or 'easily' get such a job is a bit fanciful.

Original post by Stb1750
They should be considered and compared with anything average. Studying Medicine is one thing but then it gets real where you are directly responsible for people's health; the training doesn't stop - it's just a ticket to what I would consider is the proper beginning (being a Junior Doctor). They aren't yet competent and therefore, like any other student or new worker in any field, they should be considered to be average until they learn their trade and perform one of the most vital roles for societies well being independent of supervision - then they can have the big wage for their efforts.

When do you think they hold enough responsibility?

Because being alone and in charge of the whole hospital of ill and critically unwell patients overnight is the role of a junior doctor, not a consultant!

Original post by ajj2000
The fairest initial comparison would be to compare salaries for people with 3 A's upwards in STEM subjects at A level who took full on, career related degrees. Then note that medics have to pass UKCAT (mostly?) which is a pretty good filter for motivation, energy and intellect on top of the A level requirements. They also need to get through interviews which shuts out the socially inept.

I don't know if doctors are underpaid compared with what they would earn elsewhere. My gut reaction is that the pay is fine to good if you want to work in the north or wales, not great for the South East.

An even fairer comparison would be to compare it to what 3As STEM people are earning 2-3 years after they graduate from non-medicine degrees, given the length of degree discrepancy.
Original post by karl pilkington
they think they are god's gift the fact is that there are a huge number of people willing to train to become doctors so they don't have to pay them that much supply and demand.

I mean, except the staffing crisis and 10% vacancy rate of course.
Original post by Anonymous
I’ve just seen a post on a Reddit thread where a final-year med student has hammered home about being unhappy with junior doctors’ salaries, and when another person has responded that FY1 starting salary is in line with the UK average, this person has basically said medical students/doctors are exceptional and should never be compared with anything average. Would you guys agree with this?

Veterinary Medicine is a lot harder to get into than human medicine even Veterinary Nurse degrees are harder than human medicine to get a place on a course
Original post by 161BMW
What courses are u comparing medicine to ?
English
Engineering
Maths
Sciences
Etc

Veterinary Medicine and Nursing has a lot higher course load than human medicine.
Original post by Anonymous
Im a medical student. From what I've seen of friends from other courses, the workload is slightly higher in medicine. That being said, I've met a few numpties on my course, and what really confuses me is how they managed to get on it in the first place!

The numpties on your course would never get into a Veterinary Medicine course or Veterinary Nurses they have higher standard of student behave and entry.
I am a medical student, and no, we are not 'better' than anyone.
What does 'better' even mean? In what sense?
No profession is termed as the best or the worst! Everything has an equal value like how every professional in every field is needed for this world to be a better place in the future!
I don’t think junior doctors should get higher pay because they’re ‘better’ than other courses, but I do find it a bit disappointing that after doing a 5 year degree you start off on the same salary as someone who has done 3 years. I don’t think you can really compare though. Junior doctors did get a pay rise in 2016 I think it was, and you do get raises as you do your specialist training. No one should go into medicine for the money and so as a medical hopeful, I’m not too fussed about the starting salary as I know it will be a job I love and the pay will get better. But I can understand that after doing a 5 year degree on an extremely competitive course and then starting your foundation programme where you can have shifts up to 12 hours with little breaks and you get paid the same salary as someone who has done a 3 year degree with a 9-5 job can be frustrating. But in the end, you’re still just starting out. I think other nhs workers such as nurses etc should get pay rises. A fully qualified nurse working for the nhs starts off on about £24K a year (band 5), rising to about £30K (still band 5) after 7-10 years of experience! I can under and why nhs nurses etc are protesting

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