Nobody told us the salary after KMTC could be this low
When many of us applied to Kenya Medical Training College, we believed we were making one of the safest career decisions.
Healthcare is always needed, right?
That’s what everyone told us.
Teachers encouraged it.
Parents supported it.
Friends said it was a guaranteed path to employment.
The narrative was simple:
“Go to KMTC, graduate, and you’ll easily get a job in the medical field.”
And to be fair, KMTC has a strong reputation for training healthcare workers.
But there’s one thing many students were never told clearly.
The starting salaries in some private facilities can be shockingly low.
I know people who graduated full of hope.
They imagined working in hospitals, saving lives, and finally becoming financially stable.
Then reality came.
Some private clinics offer KSh 15,000 per month.
Yes… fifteen thousand.
For someone who spent years studying, paying fees, buying medical equipment, and doing attachments, that number hits hard.
What makes it worse is the expectation society puts on healthcare workers.
People assume you’re already “successful” because you work in the medical field.
But behind the scenes many are:
• struggling with rent
• helping their families
• paying loans
• working long hours
All while earning less than what many imagined when they started the journey.
The sad part is that many students join without knowing this reality.
Nobody sits them down and says:
“The job exists, yes… but the early pay might be very small.”
Instead, the dream is often sold as a guaranteed success story.
Don’t get me wrong.
Healthcare is still a noble and important profession.
But I wish more students were given honest expectations before joining.
Not to discourage them.
But so they can prepare mentally and financially for the early stages of the career.
Because sometimes the problem isn’t the profession.
It’s the expectations we were given before entering it.
