A close friend recently asked me if I really thought medicine was “too posh” for me. I was a bit shocked they asked, OF COURSE medicine was too posh for me - or rather, I’m far too common for it.

A LONG ARSE THREAD (soz)

It’s really difficult to articulate how ‘other’ you feel as a poor person surrounded by people with money, it’s like you start off on the back-foot cause you don’t know the language.

I can only speak to my experience white council estate kid, I recognise there’s other ‘othering’

My friend described what I was struggling to articulate as ‘social currency’ and he’s entirely right.

Did you know private school kids don’t have to do SATs? Cause I fucking didn’t.

Over half of medical students are privately educated, and most of the rest go to schools which aren’t private but are grammar/excellent comps.

There’s a “hidden curriculum” of being middle class (as a MINIMUM) in medicine.

I’m not thick, but I also didn’t go a good school. Latin wasn’t an option so the difference between Ab and Ad meant NOTHING to me.

I didn’t study the classics and I didn’t know what on earth the tutor who spoke about Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey with Asclepius was talking about.

There’s the actual tangible stuff too, starting with getting in. If barely anyone from your school goes to uni, then no staff know how to get kids into med school. From advice about what A-levels to writing a reference, these things aren’t happening properly for poor kids.

There’s weekend courses, like medlink and PreMed, which cost hundreds of £s and offer extra services like application checking and interview coaching.

Each bit puts you closer to getting one of the limited places at med school.

Each one pushes poor kids a bit further away.

This is besides having the money to actually apply. The cost of just a BASIC application is hundreds of pounds, there’s UCAS fees plus entrance exam fees plus travel to interviews.

I went to an interview at Plymouth, I couldn’t afford a train & hotel so instead took the overnight coach from Manchester, washed and dressed in the loos of posh hotel the interviews were being held in, then got the late coach home.

Most applicants stayed at the hotel.

Once you actually get in, the real fun begins. I got three offers, the one I really wanted, based in London I couldn’t afford to live.

Oxbridge don’t allow you to take significant part time jobs and you have to remain local which ruled it out cause I had caring responsibilities.

I’m not talking about the cost of equipment/books/a laptop, I’d thought about those, budgeted for them.

It’s the little, insidious things, not being able to afford a costa when everyone else is getting one, avoiding the pub cos you can’t afford a round.

We were expected to bake on rotation for out small group teachings.

The ingredients cost me about £12, but that was over 50% of my food budget for the week. I couldn’t bring it up, because I was so deeply ashamed, so I baked for them and ate nothing for tea.

It carries on into affecting how you do in your career.

Where you get your first job as a Dr is based on your class ranking, a special exam and extra points for having publications - for specialist training you get points for holding leadership positions.

Leadership positions at medical school require free-time. This means if you’re working 9-5 at med school plus a part time job in the evenings, you don’t have time.

I reckon my commitment to my PT job was a Good Thing, but it doesn’t get me points on my speciality application.

Medical students are generally expected to be able to drive (especially outside of London) - if you can’t it’s a MAJOR ball ache.

I had to run a car for caring for my dad, but the cost of it was a stress every single day.

You also can’t study medicine part-time, which is absolutely insane.

It rules so many excellent candidates out who having caring commitments, are parents or simply can’t afford to give up their entire income.

I guess what I’m saying is I can’t imagine what it’s like to not have to worry about money. To have a ‘safety net’.

To know that if I failed, there’d be options and family support.

That would be lovely, but it’s not my reality.

And I’m asking my fellow doctors and doctors-to-be to be mindful of this.

I’m not thick cos I talk with a rough accent and swear a bit, it’s just how I talk.

And when you laugh at my ‘phone voice’ with patients, that’s because I’m trying to be a bit more like you.

And when you’re in the position of running courses/interviewing potential students/ being a medical school administrator - just think about how the things you implement affect the poorer students.

Or even better, ask them to help you design it.

Having doctors who ‘Look like’ the people they treat is actually a Very Good Thing.

Health inequalities are pervasive in our society, having drs with lived understanding of why that is only helps make our interventions better.

There you go @TheCullObsidian, I stood up & spoke.

If you got this far I’m well impressed, go treat yourself to a Rolex or whatever you rich people do for fun.

Nah, only joking, cheers for reading.

TL;DR - Having poor people as doctors is a good thing, but it’s proper shit being the skint one at med school.

Just as a lovely little cherry ontop of the cake. It’s really expensive to go to med school

Just a few things:

- I’m already qualified, stop assuming I’m not? It literally says Doctor in my bio

- I obvs didn’t get into medicine at 18 cause of ALL OF THE ABOVE

- I’m 33, pls stop with the “when you’re older/experienced”

- I did a GEM course, still stank of privilege.

People patronisingly telling me it gets better.

I’m considering a career in CAMHS, I’d like to attend the @rcpsych conference.

It’s ALL ONLINE.

They want £150. To watch on my computer. This is barely doable now I’m working. Absolutely not as a student.