How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

What are the perks of locum life that make it so attractive ?
Enough of the negatives , why do people become locums - even mmeders

I came onto this forum trying to figure an answer to a simple question.
What is the salary for a senior (>5 years post fellowship) consultant in emergency medicine.
Was thinking about a move from the UK to Singapore.

But gosh reading this thread the grass does not seem remotely greener. My locum pay in the NHS is £120hr. Salary is £80k/yr for 28-32 clinical hours per week. 40 days annual leave and 2 weeks stay leave per year.
That locum pay is nearly SD300/hr equivalent. I can't quite figure if the amounts being quoted here are so low because this is a junior doctor filled forum or if half the posters are just trolls or if medics in Singapore really are this vile in real life as it does not seem conducive to a pleasant working life.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I came onto this forum trying to figure an answer to a simple question.
What is the salary for a senior (>5 years post fellowship) consultant in emergency medicine.
Was thinking about a move from the UK to Singapore.

But gosh reading this thread the grass does not seem remotely greener. My locum pay in the NHS is £120hr. Salary is £80k/yr for 28-32 clinical hours per week. 40 days annual leave and 2 weeks stay leave per year.
That locum pay is nearly SD300/hr equivalent. I can't quite figure if the amounts being quoted here are so low because this is a junior doctor filled forum or if half the posters are just trolls or if medics in Singapore really are this vile in real life as it does not seem conducive to a pleasant working life.

They are this vile and public healthcare in Singapore is cutthroat.

Medicine is one of the most competitive courses in Singapore and there's an outsized aura of prestige surrounding it. Every ultracompetitive Tiger Mom's son and daughter has traditionally been pushed into doing medicine here. Factor in the typical Asian academic competitiveness that you've probably heard about.

The doctors here, or medics as you call them, are full of arrogant obnoxious exemplars. This is our system. You're better off working Down under or somewhere more humane.

Would it be unwise to leave my 8->5 polyclinic Job for a locum lifestyle- kiv anchor gp along the way

I am unhappy in polyclinic. I know the salary , CPF , hours are good. But I am plain unhappy. I hate the arrows left right center, the walk in patients , the complicated patients that i only have 5-10 mins to solve all their issue in the world.

Please tell me its not silly to want to leave.

Is SMA membership tax claimable

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am unhappy in polyclinic. I know the salary , CPF , hours are good. But I am plain unhappy. I hate the arrows left right center, the walk in patients , the complicated patients that i only have 5-10 mins to solve all their issue in the world.

Please tell me its not silly to want to leave.

aiyah, when you are clearly unhappy, leave ba
not as if polyclinic pays v well
end of the day as a doc , ur salary wouldn't be shabby.

Its not as if u making 4K and your family depends on you for all living expenses just barely making ends meet. Boss scold u , customer spit at you u have to tahan for the wellbeing of your family.
FP at polyclinic 15K, go out locum work lesser maybe 10K lor, other months chiong a bit maybe 20K. Dun anyhow spend, there is no way you will be poor in singapore.

Customer unpleasant, document clearly and they can't do sheet to you with SMC, unlike polyclinic boss come and counsel you for being an ' uncaring doctor' and hint hint your bonus will be affected soon liao. Anyway, private seldom got unpleasant patient. Somehow people who pays seem to behave better than those self entitled people out to squeeze every last cent from a 'government service' that polyclinic is looked upon as.
Maybe with polyclinic they can complain without repercussion whereas with a private GP , they can't complain to anyone and SMC bo hiew 'uncaring complains' anyway. If my own clinic stupid patients i just block them for sure. For stupid patients in polyclinic, well, as the old saying goes ' dun piss off the waiter that serves you your food '

life very short. You sound like you do till depressed liao.
Talk to your boss, see if u can ask for 6 months no pay leave.
Meantime do some locum to see how you like it ( technically you can't locum but since u like half hearted want to leave, who cares right? )

Originally Posted by Unregistered

aiyah, when you are clearly unhappy, leave ba
not as if polyclinic pays v well
end of the day as a doc , ur salary wouldn't be shabby.

Its not as if u making 4K and your family depends on you for all living expenses just barely making ends meet. Boss scold u , customer spit at you u have to tahan for the wellbeing of your family.
FP at polyclinic 15K, go out locum work lesser maybe 10K lor, other months chiong a bit maybe 20K. Dun anyhow spend, there is no way you will be poor in singapore.

Customer unpleasant, document clearly and they can't do sheet to you with SMC, unlike polyclinic boss come and counsel you for being an ' uncaring doctor' and hint hint your bonus will be affected soon liao. Anyway, private seldom got unpleasant patient. Somehow people who pays seem to behave better than those self entitled people out to squeeze every last cent from a 'government service' that polyclinic is looked upon as.
Maybe with polyclinic they can complain without repercussion whereas with a private GP , they can't complain to anyone and SMC bo hiew 'uncaring complains' anyway. If my own clinic stupid patients i just block them for sure. For stupid patients in polyclinic, well, as the old saying goes ' dun piss off the waiter that serves you your food '

life very short. You sound like you do till depressed liao.
Talk to your boss, see if u can ask for 6 months no pay leave.
Meantime do some locum to see how you like it ( technically you can't locum but since u like half hearted want to leave, who cares right? )

Yeah I am depressed thinking of just going to work at poly. Thanks for the advise. Only worry is everyday find locum slots also hard. But im sure can get some job at some chain or along the way maybe can get regular slots also. NPL cant locum. I dont mind locuming for poly half days but they dont want locums . Just full day poly is damn tiring

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I came onto this forum trying to figure an answer to a simple question.
What is the salary for a senior (>5 years post fellowship) consultant in emergency medicine.
Was thinking about a move from the UK to Singapore.

But gosh reading this thread the grass does not seem remotely greener. My locum pay in the NHS is £120hr. Salary is £80k/yr for 28-32 clinical hours per week. 40 days annual leave and 2 weeks stay leave per year.
That locum pay is nearly SD300/hr equivalent. I can't quite figure if the amounts being quoted here are so low because this is a junior doctor filled forum or if half the posters are just trolls or if medics in Singapore really are this vile in real life as it does not seem conducive to a pleasant working life.

Don't listen to the detractors.

You should move from lousy paying NHS to Singapore. Singapore treats doctors with respect and pays them well.

As a senior consultant in A&E you easily pull in SGD400-500k a year with all the usual benefits. Might not have as much leave but the money is better.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yeah I am depressed thinking of just going to work at poly. Thanks for the advise. Only worry is everyday find locum slots also hard. But im sure can get some job at some chain or along the way maybe can get regular slots also. NPL cant locum. I dont mind locuming for poly half days but they dont want locums . Just full day poly is damn tiring

I have been in your shoes

Trust me the problem is not poly. The problem is medicine. Going to pte or locum will not change anything.

Fact is earning money being a doctor is a pain. Is like slow drip water torture. Got to see patient one by one by one.

And in GP work how much can each patient pay? Sure you can open clinic and sell medicine and make profit also but realistically how much profit can you make per patient?

The more you charge the more the patient got questions to ask. So is unrealistic to try to fleece each patient. In the end the hourly amounts dont justify.

So need volume. High volume simpler work less questions profit maybe $20-$30. This is probably the most lucrative route.

However it is VOLUME. And the more patients you see the more chance you get those emotional vampire type ask crazy questions like why why why is this happening to me. Not interested in how to treat or what can be done but WHY this happened to them. And then you explain already they say cannot be lah dont think so lah then ask you WHY again You try to ICE. they say I dont know I am not the doctor you the doctor you tell me. But you already told them. So this type need to usher out fast. But then you uncaring doctor

Also burnout.

In the end, the problem is medicine. It is not what you thought it was. It is more akin to those hawker selling $20 plate of hokkien mee. But the hokkien mee when you fry will talk back to you say they dowan this dowan that and you got to keep the hokkien mee happy also and not kena complaint to the Hokkien Mee complaints council.

If you have the foresight and courage. Leave medicine. Go do something else. Software engineering. Business Admin. Accountancy. CPA. CFA.