Tuesday 4 January 2011

Full circle

DZ is lucky in that he entered medical school in the seventies. In the field of education this period was probably the most egalitarian in the history of the UK. It was a time when those of very ordinary backgrounds could get a first class state education. The grammar schools were not perfect but were the equal of almost any public school and were potentially open to all regardless of background.

Medical school was not a financial burden then. Our fees were met in full and we had a (very) modest grant to live on, not a loan. Consequently my year at medical school was remarkable for the diversity of background in the students.

Despite my parents not contributing a penny to my med school education I qualified with a debt of just £400. And I would not have had that debt if I had not chosen to run a car.

Thirty years earlier it simply would not have been possible for someone of my background to enter medical school. Now thirty years on we seem to have come full circle. Read this article and reflect on how increasingly medicine is again becoming the preserve of the privileged, and wealthy. 

1 comment:

  1. Hey,

    My first car only cost me £25.00. I had to buy another one at £60 and run them both simultaneiously to be sure there waas always one that would start. So I was a two car kinda witch student.

    It was the road tax that put me into debt.

    Come to think of it a certain proportion of students needed to have cars to ferry us all across the city from lectures and clinics in different hospitals with no travelling time allocated on the timetable.

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