Responding to the embargoed research in BMJ Open showing that around one in five UK medical students consider dropping out, Ria Bansal and Akshata Valsangkar, welfare deputy chairs of the BMA medical students committee, said: 

"These worrying findings line up with what we hear from our fellow medical students every day. No one should feel so stressed, and under such great pressure from studying to be a doctor that they experience serious symptoms of poor mental health.
 
"In August we surveyed medical students to find out what measures medical schools were taking to look after their students' wellbeing and we found that many schools were falling far short of what is needed, with a widespread lack of psychological support from university management, negative cultures surrounding seeking help, and inadequate rest, meal, and travel facilities across placements.

"Just last week we published survey results that showed financial support for medical students' living costs is so insufficient that over half of students had been forced to cut back on spending on essentials such as food or heating, piling more stress onto students.

"These astonishing and unmanageable pressures that we're putting medical students under are completely unnecessary. With straightforward changes to medical student funding, and with more psychological support from medical schools we could turn this situation on its head, and give medical students the breathing room to focus on becoming the best doctors they can be." 

ENDS

Notes to editors