'The NHS can't tell me where my job will be'

She is one of hundreds of newly qualified medical students who have not been found a specific job by the NHS yet.

Instead they have a so-called "placeholder job", meaning they have only been told the rough part of the country they will be in.

Without knowing where they will be living, they say they are not able to start preparations for moving.

It is the second year a new system has been used to allocate foundation jobs for doctors.

Previously, students were ranked and jobs were allocated based on merit, but this was changed for fear it was stressful for students and particularly unfair on those from deprived backgrounds and ethnic minorities.

They tended to perform less well, and therefore were more likely to be posted to regions they did not favour, according to the UK Foundation Programme.

Instead, jobs are assigned randomly, which means a higher proportion of students are not getting what they asked for.

There has also been an increase in the number of medical students applying for jobs after the government opened several new medical schools.

Ms Evans said it had overshadowed her achievement in qualifying.

"I was expecting around this time to feel excited or even nervous, but now mostly I just feel angry and disrespected," she said.

"I went into medicine and was told we needed doctors and the NHS needs help but I've been told there is no job for me.

"No-one's offered me any sort of clarity or even an apology."

Dr Hassan Nassar was one of more than 1,000 medical students in the same position last year.

The British Medical Association (BMA) estimates that number has dropped to about 700 this year.

"My graduation was one of uncertainty, not excitement," recalled the 24-year-old.

"I was assigned to the East Midlands - somewhere in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland - but didn't know which hospital I'd be in for months, so couldn't plan my life or find a place to live.

"I spent the first four weeks of my job as a doctor in temporary accommodation."

He said he was lucky he ended up allocated to Leicester, even if it was last minute.

"I had no links to the East Midlands and was so nervous about coming," he said.

"But Leicester has welcomed me with open arms. It is such a friendly and brilliant city, I'm lucky that I've been able to make friends and make it work."

The BMA, the union that represents doctors and medical students in the UK, has accused the government of failing to plan for an increase in resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - after increasing the number of medical school places.

"The government has increased the number of medical school places - but not the number of foundation jobs," Callum Williams, the union's deputy chair of education, said.

"The government needs to increase that funding - and these jobs should go to UK-trained doctors first."

Mr Williams said there was a danger students would move abroad.

"It's your first job with the NHS, it is supposed to be exciting and instead it leaves a sour taste in your mouth," he said.

"It's essential that we keep doctors in the NHS - and when this is students' first experience with NHS employment, it increases the risk that they'll join so many of their colleagues in moving abroad."

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