Young people 'will be put off studying medicine by £70,000 student debts'

Student debts of up to £70,000 and increased pension contributions could dissuade young people from entering medicine, a doctor has warned.

Tom Dolphin of the British Medical Association (BMA) told the Junior Doctors Conference that medical students paying the new £9,000 tuition fees, which come into force in September, will have debts of up to £70,000 by the time they graduate.

They will also face their salaries being eroded by inflation and increased pension contributions, which deter talented students from entering medicine, added Dolphin, chairman of the BMA's Junior Doctor Committee.

In a speech which criticised the government's health reforms, Dolphin encouraged delegates to back strike action to defend their pensions.

He told the conference: "At the moment, it is genuinely hard to find much cause for cheer.

"We need to put up a fight. Imagine for a moment you were applying for a place at medical school right now. With £9,000 tuition fees you will be facing debts on graduation of up to £70,000.

"When you start working, a big chunk of your salary will be used to repay these debts. With salaries frozen for many years, your starting salary will have been eroded by inflation.

"And on top of that you will be faced with increased pension contributions. The burden of austerity is falling too hard on the shoulders of the younger generation and we are seeing this in medicine, too.

"With a future like this, will medicine still be able to attract and retain some of the most talented young people? Would you still make the choice to study medicine?"

Ballot papers are being sent to 103,000 BMA members with the result due at the end of the month.

Should industrial action go ahead, it would be for the first time since the 1970s.

The BMA has ruled out a complete withdrawal of labour but if they vote in favour, doctors would not undertake duties that could safely be postponed.

The BMA argues higher paid NHS staff already pay proportionately more for their pensions than most other public sector workers, a disparity which it said increased in April when their contributions rose, and which is set to increase again.

By 2014, some doctors will see deductions of 14.5% from their pay for their pensions, compared to 7.35% for senior civil servants on similar salaries, to receive similar pensions, the BMA claims.

Doctors at the start of their careers would be hardest hit, having to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds extra – double what they would have paid – in lifetime pension contributions, according to the association.

Dolphin said: "The government wants us to pay more and work longer for what will probably be a worse pension.

"The extra contributions add up to more than £200,000 for many junior doctors.

"They won't negotiate any more, even though their 'final offer' is patently unfair."