Medical students at Erasmus MC are spending thousands in the hope of trading their clinical rotations for an earlier starting date. Several hundred students are likely facing study delays due to an unlucky draw for these training places, NU.nl reports after finding a WhatsApp group where students are offering big amounts for an earlier start date.

The three-year Master’s in Medicine degree largely consists of clinical rotations – practical internships in various departments. But because departments like obstetrics, surgery, or internal medicine can only train a set number of interns at a time, students participate in a lottery for a start date. Unlucky students usually have to wait a few months before starting their rotation.

But at Erasmus MC this year, where 380 students participated in the lottery, the delays are much longer than usual. A quarter of them can only start in the autumn of 2027, and 35 percent will only start their rotation in 2028, according to an email to students.

Erasmus MC allows students to swap their clinical rotations, and many are trying to do so in a WhatsApp group. Over 40 students have offered money a total of 120 times for an earlier start date. “Name a price,” one wrote. Another offered to pay €1,000 for an earlier start date up to four times. Another raised their price to €1,500. Someone else asked €2,000 for a start date in 2027, and got that amount.

One involved student told NU.nl that he is facing a study delay of about eight months. “I will have already completed my master’s research by then, which means I won’t be able to use this period in a meaningful way within my degree program,” the 23-year-old said. The longer it takes for his clinical rotations to start, the longer he has to wait before he can exchange his student income for a doctor’s salary, he stressed.

Erasmus MC told the newspaper that it realizes the waiting time has a major impact on students. “The waiting time is substantial, especially for students who got one of the last intake moments. We consider this highly undesirable.”

According to the university hospital, the reason for the long waiting times is that more students participated in this lottery than usual. Due to the introduction of a new curriculum, a relatively large number of students from the old bachelor’s program graduated in 2026 alongside the regular cohort. As a result, more students need to do their clinical rotations in this round. “Looking back, we could have informed students earlier that they should expect potentially significantly longer waiting times,” Erasmus MC said.

The hospital considers it “highly undesirable” that students are spending large amounts on exchanging their clinical rotations. Money should not determine when a student can start. “We believe that every student should be able to trust that the allocation is fair and not influenced by financial resources,” the hospital said.

Erasmus MC is looking into adding additional conditions to swapping out clinical rotations in response to the bids on WhatsApp. “We expect students to handle their date exchanges with integrity.”