There is sympathy for their plight among those running the system.
Speaking at the Royal College of Physicians annual conference last month, North London Foundation School deputy director Dr Celia Bielawski said the deaneries were working hard with NHS trusts to create the new junior doctor posts needed.
“We have an increasing number of international medical graduates applying for foundation training every year, and the government is very keen that we should take these doctors as we need to train up additional doctors to go up through the ranks.
“At the moment we don’t have places for all of them, but we are all actively working, creating additional posts and I’m confident that they will all be placed.
“We have to get trusts to agree to take them, that’s one of the fundamental issues and bottlenecks with all of this. But we’ll get there, I am sure.”
Prof Sheona Macleod, director of education and training at NHS England, is confident the situation will be resolved too, saying: “We will get there because we’ve committed to finding them a post.”
But she also pointed out that under the previous system, medical students could still find themselves without a job initially as some would be placed on a national reserve list after the first round of job offers.
“We have made sure people know where they are going, as in what region, which is different to the past.”
But she added: “The numbers have meant that the anxiety for the students looking at finding places hasn’t gone away and we’re very aware of it.”
Additional reporting by Catherine Snowdon.