For a while there, from the early 90's until the end of the 00's and a bit beyond, it became alright be to be mired in personal and professional debt.
This was never a good thing, it looked like s%&t, it smelt like s%&t, therefore it actually was s%&t.
Many people convinced themselves that they could 'leverage their debt' to make more money or indeed 'leverage their debt' for a better life. It's only now that people are realising that more shiny thing doesn't actually lead to a better life and over a relatively low level, more money doesn't = more happiness (at least for the majority)
One of the big problems for the profession of dentistry, and I suspect others, was the freedom with which banks and other organisations chucked money at under graduates. A recent conversation with a soon to be second year dental student who is project a minimum debt burden £80,000 on leaving dental school made me staggered yet again.
The final year dentists I spoke to last year are regularly reporting over £100,000 worth of debt. This is catastrophic to future dental professionals and any professional and here's why:
What people don't realise when they take on that level of debt is that it will inform every single decision that they make in their career going forwards. It's very, very hard to take a lower paid job with better long term prospects when you've basically got a mortgage over your head already without a house to live in.
If you don't get this then think about the opposite scenario - you exit dentistry debt free and then borrow £100,000 to spend on enhancing your career. You work for free for the first year because you can pay your way at the best institution you can find who will have you in the subject in which you're interested in. Imagine that... imagine you were interested in Orthodontics and went to work for free as an intern at the best Orthodontic practice in the UK and proved yourself a linchpin. Where would that set you in your career? After your first year you took a holiday abroad and visited different dental institutions as part of your trip, funded by you and your £100,000 before you started looking and acquiring jobs going forward. You spent money on post-graduate education and you entered into jobs where you were a linchpin and the best candidate in the interviews.
How does that measure up against the person who hits the ground running at £100 - £120,000 worth of debt and takes the highest UDA value they can get their hands on? Are they likely to be good after 5 years or are they likely to become burned out, de-skilled and fed up?
I never had a car at dental school and I don't think that any of the dental students at the present time, without decent financial backers can possibly afford to run a car. I was utterly skint, working in Tesco 12 hours a week to pay for my travel card.
The debt burden that I left University with seemed astronomical at about £14,000. I didn't buy a car until I was a Senior House Officer and I had to have that to drive to England, it wasn't new. That said, because my debts were though the student loan company I was able to make career choices based on career choices and not on financing. Lots of my friends who took out big 'professional studies loans' (easily attainable from any of the big banks) made their career choices based on income.
The system has the young guys trapped - trapped under a mountain of debt before they even take on any debt for living after they graduate. It doesn't bode well for the future or for anybody who doesn't come fro a hyper-privileged background.
Blog Post Number: 1018