The average debt of a final-year medical student has broken the £21,000 barrier, a British survey has found.
This is about £1,000 more than the basic annual salary of a junior doctor, according to the British Medical Association (BMA), who carried out the survey.
The BMA research shows that students graduating this year owe an average of £21,755, up from £20,963 last year.
The findings are based on questionnaires completed by more than 1,900 UK medical students between May and September.
Ninety-two per cent had a student loan, and six in ten had an overdraft, the survey revealed.
Almost one in five had a bank loan and two thirds had around a thousand pounds of credit card debt.
Emily Rigby, BMA's Medical Students Committee: "This level of debt is deeply worrying for current students, and the future of the medical profession as a whole."
One respondent owed £53,350, over a hundred students owed more than £30,000, and 13 per cent had debts in excess of £25,000.
According to the BMA report, the high debt levels are explained by the fact that medical students study for two or three years longer than those on most other courses, have fewer opportunities to work part-time, and face additional expenses for travel to hospitals.
The BMA has also warned that it expects debt levels to jump significantly now universities can charge up to £3,000 a year in fees.
Emily Rigby, chair of the BMA's Medical Students Committee, said: "This level of debt is deeply worrying for current students, and the future of the medical profession as a whole.
"Not only does it put further pressure on those already coping with a demanding course, but it may also deter potential students, particularly those from low income backgrounds and graduates, from considering medicine as a career.
"The government has said it wants to increase the number of UK doctors and to widen participation in medicine.
"It will fail in both of these aims unless it takes action to tackle the significant financial pressures facing medical students.
"Becoming a doctor should be about your commitment to medicine and patient care, not the amount of money you are prepared to borrow."
The BMA's 1999/2000 survey found that the average debt of a final-year medical student was just £10,797.
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