How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

There's always the option of moving abroad ??

Originally Posted by Unregistered

GP here. Wow so many MOs wanting to join the already saturated GP market. No one wants to be specialists?

I am a mopex mo, planning to be gp
Is it difficult to get rp jobs in polyclinic nowadays? I am happy to be a rp in polyclinic for the near future.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am a mopex mo, planning to be gp
Is it difficult to get rp jobs in polyclinic nowadays? I am happy to be a rp in polyclinic for the near future.

Last looked at sma job portal yesterday. Apparently singhealth polyclinics is hiring RPs. Not sure if it is easy to get the job though

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You full or conditional reg?

For ops, you can join at 6.5k rp pay. Go Email several ops director Of your intention to join as rp. Beg them for a mopex posting and indicate your intention to join as rp. whether conditional or full, pay is the same, of 6.5k. But their bonus better than pte. All Sundays free, and you get to have family dinner every night.

For pte，conditional able be to fetch 9-10k but the schedule can be xiong. Like 55hrs. Need to work weekend. And most nights are burnt.

For full reg, you can negotiate up to 15k or more for 55hours schedule. Breaks not included.

I think all the chains are the same. No preference.

Gdfm is affordable . Total fees plus exam is about 10k if you pass on first try.
Do note mmed however is very expensive. About 23k excluding exams fees. I don't think mmed is very useful in pte sector.

Just wondering does the spectrum and variety of patients that you see differ greatly between polyclinic and private GPs?

In UK consultants get upwards of £180 an hour for locuming and locum jobs are always available. Do locum shifts in Singapore exist and how much doctors get paid there ?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

In UK consultants get upwards of £180 an hour for locuming and locum jobs are always available. Do locum shifts in Singapore exist and how much doctors get paid there ?

Think locum are for GPs only. Although as consultant, you can work part time.

Do we need to have audit projects or research under our belt before applying for residency ? Will it be a significant disadvantage not to have those before applying ? Thinking of applying for residency but I do not yet have any audit or research projects. Any opportunities to do audit or researches while being a HO?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do we need to have audit projects or research under our belt before applying for residency ? Will it be a significant disadvantage not to have those before applying ? Thinking of applying for residency but I do not yet have any audit or research projects. Any opportunities to do audit or researches while being a HO?

Yes you will be significantly disadvantaged with any journal publications. A lot of research opportunities happens during electives.

In this era of many applicants for one spot, to stand out you need
1) length of service- lots of mopex rotations in the specialty
2) exams. Pass part 1 or mrcp or full mrcs
3) publications if any. Or at least some posters.
4) good boss appraisals.

based on my recent visits to some specialist clinic, doctors in Singapore are extremely rich.

* hospital carpark has the highest concentration of luxury cars, way more than top banks building in CBD

* specialist hourly rate is SGD500+. Of course usually you don't pay that much because you don't sit there chat for an hour with them. But SGD200 for a 10-15 mins consultation is very typical

* a standard day surgery costs ~3X in specialist/private hospital compare to public hospital. a colonoscopy was quoted SGD4k-8k, which is a 30-45 mins non-intrusive operation only, in public hospital is only 1k+

after retire, if no medical insurance, can serious consider going JB or Thailand or even China for medical care

Those are <5% of doctors, old ones from the old days when specialty training spots were widely available and the road to being consultant was the fast track. Most now slog it out in the polyclinic/hospital - you just don't realise it.

If cars were a comparison, think public transport or cheap japanese cars.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

based on my recent visits to some specialist clinic, doctors in Singapore are extremely rich.

* hospital carpark has the highest concentration of luxury cars, way more than top banks building in CBD

* specialist hourly rate is SGD500+. Of course usually you don't pay that much because you don't sit there chat for an hour with them. But SGD200 for a 10-15 mins consultation is very typical

* a standard day surgery costs ~3X in specialist/private hospital compare to public hospital. a colonoscopy was quoted SGD4k-8k, which is a 30-45 mins non-intrusive operation only, in public hospital is only 1k+

after retire, if no medical insurance, can serious consider going JB or Thailand or even China for medical care