How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Why isnt fm sab approved yet?

I thought this is supposed to happen in 2022


Is it because once fm cfps is sab approved,
Then mmed fm ac in ops need to demote to rp?
Coz by definition only sab approved and above can ac for all specialties
The only exception is fm.

If fm cfps is eligible for sab, then mmed fm ac by convention will need to be demoted?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You can locum with the chain group. Most chain groups will reserve their slots for their own Drs. (Assuming that you are decent la) .
My friend in a chain group who work 4 long days (44hrs/week), will locum another 2-3 more sessions a week. (Additional 8-9 hrs), his max is work 6 full long days (4 days contracted 2 full days locum)
- his income confirm more than mmeder fp, well at least the junior ones that I spoke to in my polyclinic. (He say can get up to 240-280k/year) But of course he work much more lah. (He chose to chiong average up to 55-65 hrs a week, 44 hrs contracted, rest 10-20 locum, which varied weekly)

This is perfectly legal, don't need to worry about getting caught.
This kind of life tough, most will do it till they have kids or reach 40s then slow down (back to the 44hr week) once they have the savings, their house mortgage stable etc.

I am very old school lol, believe that we should work very hard when young and aim to enjoy the fruits of our labour at a older age and hopefully retire earlier than the official retirement age. That's why I thinking of going private after my residency/mmed this year (hopefully I can leave as a mmeder).
In ops, it's like you want work hard, also no opportunity for more money. Maybe your boss like you, give you more bonus that's it (end up maybe just 1 month more only)
I once ask my polyclinic boss for locum on Sat morning (we schedule to work alternate sat, I volunteer to locum on the other 2 sat that I am off, he say cannot...but maybe also because I still resident, so got rules.) Thought about locum secretly outside but I think risk not worth it- get caught, moh delay your residency progression, lagi jialat.

Sometimes I always wondered if I made the wrong decision in joining residency (and potentially missing a pot of gold during the covid period)... It's like I have no interest in admin, education or research, or complex clinical cases. I just want to work hard, make good money (more the better, but of course in an ethical and legal way lah) and lead a simple mundane life and hopefully retire early

Anyway thanks for reading. Just venting here, as I don't know how to approach my faculty, seems that we on different wavelength with different perception of family medicine.

your approach to life not wrong. you know what you want

u locum with raffles itself u also just making that $80-$90 hourly rate nia. i actually suggest u just quit if no bond and go locum all the way at least that way, u make slightly more.

But this kind of working hours to get the 240-280K a year damn shiong
You will get burnt out after a few years
some kind of burnt out cannot recover one.
hired GP jobs that gives u longevity is those about 40 plus hours with 1 or max 2 nights.
some chains even starting 8-2 pm and 2 pm to 8pm kind of shift work to give their doc some work life balance

Our time doctoring not like like 90s where HDB is 120K.
Now 1.5 million only a 1000 sqf EC nia. That's about 6 years of backbreaking work to chiong your 280K a year.
this means, in SG , as a doctor u not gonna be rich and well off liao. Maybe just above average only.
focus on other aspects of your life better. work in OPS , evening free, annual leave a lot, stability in job. want freedom of GP land, dun burn urself out with 60 hour work week, not worth it.

anyway, ops also can be pure clinical one ma. See patient and go home. I'm doing that. I leave at 4:30 most of the days. I use to teach a lot but not my cup of tea so gradually let go my residents day and then not taking up students rotations anymore.
90% of OPS mmeders are mainly clinical if u really want to know because end of the day, they are the backbone of the polyclinic, not your adminstrators or researchers.

Some admin is inevitable ( eg some work groups, vet junior reports etc) and is actually doable one. Not like u need to spend hours after work every day.

i really dunno what is this fear about admin that people are talking about.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Why isnt fm sab approved yet?

I thought this is supposed to happen in 2022


Is it because once fm cfps is sab approved,
Then mmed fm ac in ops need to demote to rp?
Coz by definition only sab approved and above can ac for all specialties
The only exception is fm.

If fm cfps is eligible for sab, then mmed fm ac by convention will need to be demoted?

sore GP here again? Lol
ey, get registered as a specialist and getting a consultant rank is different hokay?
go read ur MOH circular.
In hospital, some consultants not a registered specialist. Some registered specialist also not consultant.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

sore GP here again? Lol
ey, get registered as a specialist and getting a consultant rank is different hokay?
go read ur MOH circular.
In hospital, some consultants not a registered specialist. Some registered specialist also not consultant.

Is getting this specialist accreditation for fm really that important unless it comes with a significant rise in pay?
I am a gp in private now, most people only care about p&l, we want money not titles .

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can i check how much these bonuses compared to OPS? and how much stock
options?

More than OPS 2-3 months a year? thx for sharing really appreciate it.

I got mthly variable performance bonus of S$760 a mth for 6 mths, prorated from S1k as I work about 42 hrs a week. And an annual bonus of S$11500 which plus employer cpf coomes up to S$13455 which is more than 1.5 times my basic pay which is low at S$8k as I am on conditional license. Got 2 stock options which I can only exercise later.

Actually, most of my networth is from property gains. Being a doctor makes it easier to get home loans which is helpful. My hubby and I have made S$1 mil in realised property gains and our current home which is fully paid also have appreciated at least S$500k.

So, my advice to the young doctors out there is to grow yr wealth by investing well.

Freehold landed property in particular appreciates very well.

I am not yet 50 years old but I can retire now if I really want or need to. Thanks to property gains.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I got mthly variable performance bonus of S$760 a mth for 6 mths, prorated from S1k as I work about 42 hrs a week. And an annual bonus of S$11500 which plus employer cpf coomes up to S$13455 which is more than 1.5 times my basic pay which is low at S$8k as I am on conditional license. Got 2 stock options which I can only exercise later.

Thanks! v informative

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is getting this specialist accreditation for fm really that important unless it comes with a significant rise in pay?
I am a gp in private now, most people only care about p&l, we want money not titles .

yep gps should get extra with quaifications, so much more things to do especially healthier SG, carrying the backbone of primary care

[Happywife]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I got mthly variable performance bonus of S$760 a mth for 6 mths, prorated from S1k as I work about 42 hrs a week. And an annual bonus of S$11500 which plus employer cpf coomes up to S$13455 which is more than 1.5 times my basic pay which is low at S$8k as I am on conditional license. Got 2 stock options which I can only exercise later.

May I know why are you on conditional license?

Usually overseas grads are on conditional license.