Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
I happened to come across this article:
://doctorxdentist.com/10-myths-doctors-singapore/
"As a doctor in a public hospital, a Medical Officer’s take home pay is approximately $4000 – $5000, and this will last for as long as you decide not to specialise. I know of friends who’ve been doctors for 8+ years earning this same amount.
Even if you take the fastest route to becoming a specialist, it takes a minimum of 10 years to earn $10,000:
1 year as a House Officer: $3000
3 years as a Medical Officer: $4000 – $5000 (variable depending on number of calls)
4 years as a Registrar – $6000: $7000
2 year as an Associate Consultant: $9000
Consultant: $10,000 +
Training spots can be very competitive, so you may get stuck at each step of the way for a couple more years. Furthermore, the majority of doctors never specialise, hence continue to earn a Medical Officer pay for as long as they stay in the public sector. Oft repeated, but being a doctor in Singapore is not one career to get rich quick."
Is this true? based on what the author says, as of Aug 2016, Singapore has 13,000 doctors.. of which:
1) 34% work in Private & 66% work in Public
2) 35% are Specialists (earns >$6000 after 5 years, assuming on the fastest track)
3) 65% are Non-specialists (earns $4000-$5000, for as long as they do not specialize)
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The salary for doctors, MO in particular, has been revised recently. Currently the 2nd year MOs can get basic of around $4500, with allowances for additional on-call duties that can potentially add up to around $5500. They need 6 years thereabout to finish their specialty (if they already opt to specialise the moment they graduated). This varies across specialties.
In between the 6 years, there are tests they need to pass as well. They should become registar about 4 years later after graduation. To be a consultant is a question mark, though most will be if they wait it out. Right place, right time, right specialty, know right people etc; these can "accelerate" the time you need to become an Assoc Con/Con. Senior consultant is a different story altogether. Training spots are very hard to come by, especially in those hot-contested specialties. I've heard of stories whereby the HOD will reserve spot for his/her own children. I have no inclination why these areas are "hot" as they are very very hard to master, besides the fact that the specialists gets paid very well and there's this prestige that comes with it. If you talk about work output versus amount earned, dentists definitely come up top man.
Most people nowadays join the medical profession because of the prestige and the envisaged $$ they can earn. Wrong reasons. And that is why not many can tahan the work in public hospitals, and choose to venture into the private and become GP (open own clinic). So it is not that we really really lack doctors, but we lack doctors who are willing to stay in our public healthcare institutions. The lure of earning big bucks plus smaller workload in the private is simply too much for many doctors, especially those more junior ones. Plus many young doctors nowadays have their heads up high in the sky, and expect to be promoted fast and have people worship them.