In the UK, the brightest (or perhaps a better word is ambitious) students are more likely to go into finance or engineering, which offer far better pay and benefits, than med school. The UK now greatly depends on foreign trained doctors (which are not trained to the same standard as domestic doctors). Financial incentives do make an impact on the careers chosen by students.
quote made up two-fifths – 39.4% – of the 7,500 year-on-year increase in the overall number of doctors, which rose to 267,150. Of the 267,150 doctors of all types registered with the GMC on 6 January, 97,915 (36.6%) were foreign-trained, including 34,120 (41.2%) specialists
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