Medical students say it's increasingly difficult to sustain their training, without the support of family or a benefactor. In fact, a South Australian medical student struggling to support herself through her degree - says you almost have to come from a family of doctors to become a doctor. It's a sentiment shared by many student doctors juggling study, work and unpaid placements, and some fear they'll burn out before they make it to the doctor's surgery or emergency department.
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00:00Talani White serves customers at a local restaurant most weeknights.
00:06How was the food anyway? Was it good?
00:08It's one of two jobs she's working to financially support herself through her medical studies.
00:14When she's not at work, she's either behind a desk or doing an unpaid placement,
00:19trying to make her dream of becoming a surgeon a reality.
00:23But the 25-year-old says the constant juggle and financial pressure is taking its toll.
00:29Even when I'm not on placement, I'm still likely doing uni work.
00:34If I'm not at work, it's really hard to balance all three.
00:38Across the country, about 18,000 medical students are on unpaid placements.
00:43For third-year student Raina Miller, the prospect of deferring her medical studies has become a real possibility.
00:50She's also the disability officer for the Australian Medical Student Association,
00:55lobbying for student doctors to be included in the Commonwealth PRAC payment.
00:59The weekly means-tested payment was announced in May for some students doing unpaid work placements.
01:05But medical students weren't included.
01:08If these people are going to have to defer and prolong their degrees by one year, two years, three years,
01:13where are these doctors going to come from? They're not just going to materialise.
01:17The federal education minister says he was advised to prioritise other degrees,
01:22such as teaching and nursing, when introducing the placement scheme.
01:25He wouldn't say if student doctors would be added to the scheme in the future.
01:30There has been no increase in the Commonwealth-supported placements over the last 10 years for medical students,
01:37so we really need to be investing in our doctors.
01:40And the failure to do that has meant we've now got overflowing emergency departments and ramping at our hospitals.
01:46If we could ease some of that burden, then we'll end up with better doctors.
01:50And student doctors who can focus on studying.