How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

actually sg residency system isnt good
the newly minted surgeons cannot handle complications.
but it is not just surgery, most other specs, the quality is pretty average.

i think uk system is better ~ takes abt 10 years
whereas sg system is 5 years
you cant cook a dish in 30min when it takes 60min

Nowadays so many residents quitting halfway when they finished their bond. Residency training not really worth the delayed gratification/extra exam stress unless it’s a really lucrative speciality like plastics or ophthalmology

Don’t get why people spend 8 years training in low paying areas like endo/path when they can easily make money doing locum GP/aesthetics

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Just chiong MSRA, do well and get a GPST spot in London. 540+ should get somewhere easily. CCT and locum in London or go to Canada or Australia, should be higher quality of life than sg. If not move over to aus and do psych training, heard it is easy to get in without being PR.

RP in polyclinic is a lot of work for not much, might as well live in British Columbia and earn more

Saw on reddit, newly qualified UK GP offered 500k CAD to work in Alberta. Seems foolish to chiong surgery for 10 years

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Nowadays so many residents quitting halfway when they finished their bond. Residency training not really worth the delayed gratification/extra exam stress unless it’s a really lucrative speciality like plastics or ophthalmology

Don’t get why people spend 8 years training in low paying areas like endo/path when they can easily make money doing locum GP/aesthetics

Wonder if locum GP will dry up eventually if everyone wants to do GP nowadays. See most of my friends just get full reg and leave or doing FM. Not many bothering with residency.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

actually sg residency system isnt good
the newly minted surgeons cannot handle complications.
but it is not just surgery, most other specs, the quality is pretty average.

i think uk system is better ~ takes abt 10 years
whereas sg system is 5 years
you cant cook a dish in 30min when it takes 60min

I thought residents work almost twice the hours of UK so will get similar exposure. UK average 48h work week over 6 weeks. Sg surgical resident easily 80+ hours

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I thought residents work almost twice the hours of UK so will get similar exposure. UK average 48h work week over 6 weeks. Sg surgical resident easily 80+ hours

Quite common for UK trainees to work as clinical fellows/do a PhD to progress onto their higher speciality training before they can CCT. So the actual number of working years is way longer than 10 years..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Saw on reddit, newly qualified UK GP offered 500k CAD to work in Alberta. Seems foolish to chiong surgery for 10 years

I found the reddit post. See below

I spoke to a GP recruiter in Canada Alberta who said:

Can earn gross 250-500k CAD per annum

This is pre deductions and tax. Deductions are between 10-30% for the facility you work in

Many see 50 patients per day. Work 5 days per week. However your working hours and number of patients are completely up to you. Put simply, the more patient you see, the more you earn.

No dedicated time for admin including billing.

No paid sick leave or annual leave (I can’t remember this 100% so worth doublechecking)

You have total decision making power including access to virtually all investigations and medicines. Essentially, you decide if something is within your competence or not.

I work in Alberta as well.

Sounds about right. If you are seeing about 40 patients a day 5 days a week. If you do 50 a day 5 days a week you're looking closer to 600-700k gross billings.

250-500k is just the billings. Usually there is cost sharing with the practice. 20-30% is the norm although you can find some that are 10%.

So your actual earnings (pre-tax) is 175k-350k. This 175-350k is then either taxed under your Corporation (if you set up one) or taxed at personal rates.

Alberta currently has shortage of FPs in rural Alberta. It can be more lucrative if you do calls at the local rural ER as well. And if you have Obs training (note AHS does reimburse for CMPA insurance). Program is for rural Alberta eg Fort Mac, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, High River, Wetaskiwin, Whitecourt etc. Not so much in city centres eg Edmonton and Calgary. But they have incentives for you to come to and stay in the community

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Wonder if locum GP will dry up eventually if everyone wants to do GP nowadays. See most of my friends just get full reg and leave or doing FM. Not many bothering with residency.

Sg private GP land is flushed with pandemic money. Every URTI case is 10 bucks to patient only so they come in droves. 1 URTI patient 60-70 dollars see 50 a day already 3K revenue.
What do the chains with lots of money do? open clinics hopping to grab market share and to attract "talent" they start to offer above market rates.

Sustainable or not no one knows la.
But law of supply and demand always works. Not in short term, but long term everything evens out.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Nowadays so many residents quitting halfway when they finished their bond. Residency training not really worth the delayed gratification/extra exam stress unless it’s a really lucrative speciality like plastics or ophthalmology

Don’t get why people spend 8 years training in low paying areas like endo/path when they can easily make money doing locum GP/aesthetics

because life isn't entirely about money?
GP locum is hard work, clinic that pay u 100 to 120 an hour u have to see quite a fair bit of patient lei. By the 30th URTI case, sian liao.

endocrinologist quite eng also make 100 an hour as a AC. No clinic, 9am after round can go la kopi liao while your locum GP have to force smile and kowtow to the chao keng NSF.
if u like some esteroic stuff, eg gender dysphoria treatment only endocrinologist can do lei

If u ask me, i dont get it why pple give up halfway their residency for the short term "better" money as a GP locum

Life as a doctor is a multifaceted and demanding profession, yet it can also be incredibly rewarding. Being a doctor entails significant responsibilities, long hours, and continuous learning. Here are some key aspects to consider when exploring life as a doctor:

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Respect to all the doctors!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

because life isn't entirely about money?
GP locum is hard work, clinic that pay u 100 to 120 an hour u have to see quite a fair bit of patient lei. By the 30th URTI case, sian liao.

endocrinologist quite eng also make 100 an hour as a AC. No clinic, 9am after round can go la kopi liao while your locum GP have to force smile and kowtow to the chao keng NSF.
if u like some esteroic stuff, eg gender dysphoria treatment only endocrinologist can do lei

If u ask me, i dont get it why pple give up halfway their residency for the short term "better" money as a GP locum

Simplicity in life I guess
Urti and HS don't really need brains. Anything you don't know refer.
Specialist- in general need to think more. And can be quite stressful for some speciality.

I did ed mopex, then IM residency, resigned after finishing junior residency, then joined ops as RP for a few years then become locum now. See more PTS yes, but can tell you end of day less stressed. Agree that certain speciality less stressful, but at the of the day specialist still more taxing then your simple urti or HS la. (Unless you progress to admin track like become CMB/CEO kind and don't do clinical at all)

For some reason, sg PTS tend to accept "I don't know" when you are gp, compared to when you are specialist.

When I was in ed, I seen GPS referral letter is just 1 line. Many examples but the one I remembered the most was "whole body numb. Plz evaluate"

I remembered this one as this was a PT that subsequently underwent MRI brain/whole spine, NCS, numerous labs. Eventual diagnosis was actually anxiety (at least on the discharge summary) Lol. But GP like easy sia, then tell them I don't know, plz go ed lol (or maybe try some neurobion)

Hopefully in 2-3 decades when FM residency more established and expands, things will be better. (Can't deny that FM residents I encounter in ops higher level than the locums I interact with now)