Desperate medical students are offering each other money to start their internships earlier

The long waiting time for medical internships is causing great unease amongst medical students. Some will not be able to start until June 2028. Following the allocation draw at the end of August, students are trying to swap places, often with the promise of a substantial payment.

Many medical students in Rotterdam are willing to dig deep into their pockets to start their medical internships sooner, Nu.nl reported this week. In chat groups, sums of up to 2,000 euros are being offered for an earlier start date.

Erasmus Magazine also found dozens of swap requests in various chat groups this week, with money being offered or requested in most cases.

Swapping medical internship start dates is nothing new. During the pandemic, the waiting list had also grown extremely long, although this was already happening before then. Even back then, money was regularly offered for an earlier start date.

The waiting list is longer than usual this time, according to the Erasmus MC. A spokesperson for the hospital told Nu.nl that more students than usual took part in this lottery. This is thought to be a temporary peak, as many bachelor’s students who were still on the old curriculum graduated this year. “Looking back, we could have informed students earlier that they should expect potentially significantly longer waiting times”, said a spokesperson for Erasmus MC.

Five exclamation marks follow the phrase ‘for a fee’ in a text message from a medical student who prefers to remain anonymous. She is under a great deal of stress, she tells EM. “Swapping places for money is really out of desperation, because the lottery system and the number of available places aren’t organised properly.” She had hoped to start her clinical internships in January 2027. That will now be April 2028, as the lottery revealed last week.

Desperate

“FOR PAYMENT, name your price!”, pleads another student who wants to start their internships earlier than June 2028. In the same chat group, one student hopes to start in April or June 2027. “Offered: November 2027, 1,000 euros”, he texts. This is followed by several emojis of money with wings. ‘Crazyyy’, replies someone else, yet there is still interest in such offers.

The Medicine master’s programme, which normally takes three years, consists of half a year of master’s research and a thesis. The remainder of the programme is spent on clinical placements. “I did my master’s research during the first half of the 2025/2026 academic year, straight after my Bachelor’s”, explains the student, who wishes to remain anonymous. “The next placement draw I could enter was in August 2026.” That first wasn’t too bad, as it gave her the chance to save up a fair bit.

During medical internships, the students often work more than full-time. So, there’s no space for a part-time job. That’s why this student started working full-time first. “To cover my monthly expenses and to save money for during my internships. You only get 300 euros a month during those, and that doesn’t even cover your rent, even though you’re working full-time.” A delay of one year and seven months in her studies is therefore a very costly delay, causing a great deal of stress. That’s why she’s willing to pay for an earlier placement: “I wanted to use all the savings I’d built up so far, in the hope of being able to start sooner.” So far, she hasn’t had any luck with the swap.

Another anonymous student has, however, managed it. She’s been waiting for a year now and was supposed to wait until January 2027. To her great delight, she’s just started. A fellow student had asked for a hundred euros for the swap, which she agreed to. Her student loan is still running, and that’s even more expensive. The payment request hasn’t come through yet. “Actually, I find the whole situation rather sad”, she says over the phone. “My parents were willing to step in. Students who don’t have that support are forced to spend more. Either because they have to wait so long, or because they have to pay for a place to start.”

‘Highly undesirable’

“We realise that this waiting period has a major impact on students,” a spokesperson for Erasmus MC told Nu.nl. “The waiting period is particularly long for students who were allocated one of the final intake slots via the lottery. We find that highly undesirable.” It is also ‘highly undesirable’, the statement continues, ‘if money determines which student can start their internships earlier’. Meanwhile, the programme is looking into whether it can introduce additional conditions in the short term regarding the swapping of start dates.