Doctors are quitting Britain’s NHS for a career in business

In-service ambulances for the East of England ambulance service parked outside Southend University Hospital in Southend, UK, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Ambulance workers are demanding a higher pay rise to cope with the UK’s cost of living crisis. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Thousands of junior doctors are on strike this week, complaining of low pay and poor working conditions in Britain’s National Health Service.

Many of the medics on picket lines are also thinking of walking out of their careers entirely — and the world of finance and business offers an unexpected but increasingly attractive option.

Jae-Young Park spent six years studying to be a doctor at the University of Oxford but after five months as a newly-qualified medic, he left the NHS to work in investment banking. His salary more than tripled overnight.