INSUFFICIENT government funding for medical students is plunging budding doctors into financial hardship, the BMA warned today.

The union published a survey of over 3,500 medical students and found that 43 per cent had considered leaving or pausing their course due to financial pressures.

More than two-fifths had used an overdraft to cover living costs, while one in 10 turned to credit cards or loans to make ends meet, the survey found.