Medical students struggling to make ends meet during clinical placements

Data released by the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand show how medical students are often stacking multiple sources on income to get through their degree.

Almost two in three respondents (61%) draw on three or more separate income sources simultaneously, and almost 43% report needing both government income support and paid employment just to make ends meet, compared with 24% who need neither.

The number of medical students relying on paid employment has risen from 58.3% in 2021 to 61.4% in 2025.

While the number of students relying on government assistance had decreased from 63% in 2021 to 54% in 2025, data suggests there is a growing reliance on student loans, family and savings accounts.

Medical Deans Vice President Professor Ruth Kearon warned it was not sustainable.

“Medical students are not taking on more paid work because they have spare time. They are doing it to cover rent, food and placement costs during their training to become doctors,” she said.

“Full-time clinical placements leave little room for paid work, and many students are now trying to do both at once. That is not a sustainable model, and it is not one that serves patients, students or the future health workforce.”

It comes as the federal government expanded the Commonwealth Prac Payment scheme to ten additional allied health disciplines from July 2027 but excluded medical students from the list.

Eligible students currently receive $338.60 per week during their clinical and professional placements to support with things like travel, accommodation and relocation costs.

Medical students undertake an average of 3000 hours of mandatory, unpaid clinical placement hours during their degree, often on a full-time basis. According to the Medical Deans it is the most placement-intensive pre-registration health degree not covered by the scheme.

“It leaves an increasingly hard-to-justify equity gap for medical students. They face the longest and most demanding placement hours of any health discipline, and they are now the only major cohort of placement-heavy students without access to this support,” Ms Kearon added.

Medical Deans is calling for an urgent expansion of the CPP eligibility to include medical students.

Waiting for the independent review of the CPP scheduled for 2028 is not acceptable, it said in a statement.