Didn't manage to become a doc and in so much debt! Still life could be worse i guess!

Twiggy007

Hello all,

I am in so much debt its just unbelievable.. and the worst thing is, I just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel! I absolutely need a miracle... and while I wait for that to happen, i'm trying to survive as best I can...

OK, so the reason for posting (my very fist post on MSE as well), is to say hi, because its a bit rude to browse through all the amazing resources here without letting anyone know i'm here or saying thanks...

I have nearly a million pounds of debt.. lol, not quite but it sure feels like it! I was at medical school these past few years, so as you can imagine, living away from home and studying has amounted to a lot of debt... and to make things worse, is that I was unable to complete the course, so now I am not the doctor I had once hoped to be but I still have to face the bill which dreaming of becoming a doctor has incurred!

I got a statement through from the Student Loan Company the other day saying that the total I owe them is a whopping £35k... gosh, I didn't realise 6 years of baked beans, toast and potato cost that much... and on top of that I stupidly took out £20k graduate loan right at the start too... I was very home sick throughout uni life, and used to make frequent visits to London by train.. then there was the summer storage fees, rent etc etc... i could have budgeted better, but the sad fact is I didn't! And never once did I expect not to qualify or be unable to pay off the debt.

So, now... I am approximately £60k in debt including the interest Natwest have promised to charge me... and I haven't even factored in what the SLC will interest me with either :eek:

Anyway, as I had to unexpectedly leave Medicine... and since i had never envisaged working as anything else but a doctor.. since leaving uni, just to make ends meet, I've been temping as a Medical Secretary... almost all of this money has been spent on paying £500/month to Natwest, paying solicitor fees (appealing against uni's decisions) and a poor attempt to keep up appearances.. since my siblings are qualified doctors and pharmacists!

Anyway, as much as I respect medical secretaries, because of course a hospital isn't just run by just doctors and nurses, but needs every other type of staff to contribute to its structure... I can't bear to think this is what all my hard work has amounted to... as much as I am able to just about stay afloat with the monthly pay of approximately £1000, the fact that i am not using any of my knowledge or skills is driving me nuts! All those exams, all those courseworks, revision and sleepless night... seem to have all amounted to a dusty desk and a whole load of typing... So... I've decided I need to develop on what I have and make the most of a terrible situation...
Tthis past year has been the toughest.. especially since i am wandering the corridors of various hospitals like a lost sheep... envying the young doctors with their shiny stethoscopes and thinking hats.. while I pound away at a keyboard in a small stuffy office...

I've decided to get out of this spiral of self pitty and have decided to go and do a Masters so that at least in future the job I do do will be related more closely to the knowledge I've gained... and hopefully I will be able to feel my degree and qualifications mean something...

Anyway... that's the future, so at present it will mean stop temping, which means no more earning £1000 a month... but it does mean I still have the Natwest loan to pay... and on top of that I'll need to find a way to pay for the Masters... I am thinking of may be applying for another loan to pay the fees... and in addition keep paying the Natwest loan by getting a part time job... I am hoping to join Arise UK but am also looking for more local opportunities in case that doesn't come off the ground.

I was also hoping a miracle would occur, and a lovely beneficiary somewhere would come by and deposit £60k in my letter box... I don't care if I am not rich like my family.. as long as I don't have to worry about debt or bills then that's sufficient!
Anyway, its amazing how I’ve not really achieved much with the £60k arrears I have to my name… I don’t have a business to show for it, a nice car or house or any form of asset, not even a designer handbag! So really I am desperate to omit this amount from my life as it is a painful reminder of what I’ve lost.. and not just monetarily.
If anyone has any ideas other than my little ‘to do’ list that I mentioned above to get me debt free.. please let me know. And thanks to everyone for their contributions to the MSE forum. I think it’s awesome. Just wished it was around when or I’d seen it before I went to university.

Hannah_10

Get the self-pity bit done, losses always need to be grieved, then come back here when you're in a fit state to progress and we'll take it from there.

Your first step will have to be a SOA, to find out what that is read this>> https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/107280

Every step thereafter is dependant on the numbers in the SOA (to say anything else would be purely guesswork).

And you're right, it could be worse, it's when you lose people that the loss is most keenly felt. Lost opportunities are somewhat less soul-destroying, you will recover.

katsu

This must have been hard for you. Good luck with your future career.

Can you do the masters part time and keep working?

You can do a masters by evening classes (I've done my professional quals this way and will be topping up to a masters this year). I've worked full-time throughout. I don't know what masters degree you want to do so don't know what options you have - I've studied at the business schools so have been studying along with other working people. I don't know if healthcare is different.

Oh, and the keeping up appearances is responsible for many debt problems so step away from that as fast as you can.

SuzySu

Some good advice there Twiggy. This is definitely the best place to be if you are serious about getting rid of your debt. It won't happen overnight, but it WILL happen.

I don't know your circumstances, but from your post is sounds as though returning to your course is out of the question?

Do post your SOA up on here as you have seen others do - it will give these lovely people a chance to help and offer constructive advice.

Good luck to you and stick around.

tryingveryhard_2

I don't know if you have thought about doing a Masters with the OU? That way you can keep working to pay off your debts at the same time. Also, if you are based in London again now (I am guessing maybe you are, as you said you were home sick for London) Birkbeck do part-time Masters as well, with classes in the evenings.

Its good that you are focussing on moving forward, best of luck.

debtdesperado

Hi Twiggy007

Welcome to the boards! I'm curious though - is there no way that you can go back to your course to finish it at some point in the future? Way back in the day when I did my degree, whatever you had completed amounted to credits, and the credits were transferable to other institutions for 5 years or so... is there any way that you could save the credits and plan to go back and finish in a few years? You sound very wistful about not completing your course? (sorry if that is too many questions, if you don't want to answer, just ignore me...)

Also (and I'm saying this just because it sounds as if the dust hasn't had time to settle yet for you), perhaps starting a masters immediately isn't the best plan - give yourself a bit of time for everything to sink in as the last thing you want is to start another course which means more spending and then you change your mind about what you want to do...

Why not give yourself a year/18 months to let your life readjust, so you get used to being out of education, you start paying back some of the debt etc and when you're back on an even keel, the right life course for you will become a lot clearer... then you will make better choices as to what your next move is. Particularly if you're saying things like you need to keep up appearances, it does sound as if you should be kind to yourself and cut yourself some emotional slack (not financial slack - no treats!). Plus then even if you do go and do a masters, you can save up for the fees so you won't incur any extra debt. Just a suggestion, hope that helps...

Devi

you poor thing - I really do feel bad for you - I know things look bad now but you will feel much calmer over time.

the worse thing you can do is to compare yourself against family and put too much pressure on yourself.

I am sure you are qualified to do something medical if not a doctor - how about a medical salesperson seeing as you have the knowledge and background while studying at the same time as other posters have suggested.

determined_new_ms

its a cliche, but one I hope in some part will be comforting. Every period of growth as a person in my life has invariably been born of intense personal difficulty. You will come through this and be stronger for it, in the words of Martin Luther King "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger", it will all be alright in the end, everything always is x

Hannah_10

Guys, I'm not sure if it'd be uncomfortable for Twiggy to say this and of course it may have no bearing on her own circumstances but... Medicine is a no re-sits (or limited re-sits) course. If you fail any aspect of it, no matter how avoidable in your future career, then there's not going to be a future career. You can fail a doctorate in pretty much any other subject 16 times, pass it on the 17th and get your professional accreditation from that pass... But not medicine.

Triggles

Obviously I don't know the ins and outs of your situation, but is a sideways step a possibility for you? Nursing? Or perhaps NP? You would be utilising the skills and knowledge you've gained that way. Just a thought...

isy1011

Unfortunately that's the picture for many students now. Large student loan debt and no jobs.

At least they are student loans (low interest) and not payday loans etc. So look on the bright side. the other positive is you are clearly bright and although one path hasnt worked Im sure other ones will open up.

Just work through a budget and put aside money to pay debts then have a good rethink about career choices. Medicine isnt the be all and end all but then Im a nurse so biased.:rotfl: