I think one has to realize that if he/she make the decision to become GP/FP (not aesthetics),their pay ceiling will always be lower than their specialist counterparts. This is especially so if one chooses to be employed rather than self-employed (i.e open own clinic)
I make around 220-230k/year now as a employed GP, working largely office hours. (This is not starting salary, worked for almost 8-9 years with a private group)
Probably the lowest of the lowest in the medical salary hierarchy at my age (early 40s), but I can still feed myself. Parents have unfortunately passed on, and I am single, so I am not into building any legacy wealth. All my wealth probably goes back to the state when I die, as I am only child (no siblings)
I am still paying my condo (2bedder) mortgage. Currently living in the
HDB which I inherited after both parents passed on. I doubt I can ever reach landed property, also hard for me to upgrade my condo without paying absd. (As realistically I need to sell both my
HDB and condo before upgrading)
I did think if I should take the leap of faith and set up a clinic during COVID times, (will probably involve me depleting most of my existing savings or selling my condo to raise funds), but eventually decided against the risk. So on may I continue with 230k salary/year, which to be honest is sufficient for a single.
Purpose of my post- not everyone can reach a million dollar/year salary as everyone has different ability, luck/opportunities etc.... Important not to feel disheartened if you can't achieve this. Unfortunately the medical fraternity has many alpha/competitive and smart people, (also contributed by their educational background as most are from elite schools), and it's very easy to feel burnt out and stress/have inferiority complex as a result.