I need to borrow money

Unless you have particularly wealthy and supportive parents you’ll need to borrow money – twice as much money as students on non medical courses.

That’s because you’re studying for more years and more weeks per year and have higher travel costs.

In this section you can find out more about the pros and cons of the main ways of borrowing (other than from family or friends). In order of preference we’re probably looking at:

Student Overdrafts, which are good news so long as no interest is charged while you are a student and you keep within the agreed limit – but you’ll still have to pay it back one day and if you go over the limit…...

Student Loans - the starting point for most of you. They have lower interest rates than most other ways of borrowing and you don’t have to start paying them back until you have graduated and are earning , so check out the pros and cons.

Professional Development Loans are probably something you’ll try to avoid, because they mean more debt and higher interest rates. However, if a PDL becomes inevitable it helps to understand how to get one and what to look out for.

Credit Cards. The Chief Executive of Barclays advises his own children never to borrow on credit cards because the interest rate is too high. He probably knows what he’s talking about. Try to use credit cards only for cash flow, making a full repayment each month if at all possible. And don’t even think about Store Cards…

In Too Deep. If your debts are getting out of control check the menu on your left and also the Getting Advice section.

Paying off your debts as a Junior Doctor helps put all this potential borrowing in perspective. How much (or little) take home pay will you have as a junior doctor, to pay off your debts, have a life and think about things like buying a car and a house or starting a family?