How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

so how much do u earn?
Im a 2nd yr AC in a gov hosp earning 330k/yr. u got or not?
thank u cards aint buying my next house nor feeding my belly

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the guy who wrote the long post on the possible routes.
I do not agree with you.

If i'm have to see 50-60 urti a day everyday for the rest of my life, i think i will go nuts.

The key to is find meaning in your work i guess. In those first few years after m.med many a times i want to quit to go private GP land, go community hospital , turn locum etc.

Now i'm still here in the polyclinic. I'm do not have FCFP and not doing some head or deputy job.
Can't say I'm loving it every day, there are good and bad days , but overall i'm not hating it. I try to engage myself in various things.
The key as one of my senior advised me, is to find your niche. She ended up doing the education track.
Right now i'm clinical 3.5 days ,0.5 days teaching and 1 day doing a unique external arrangement that is clinically quite light. Involved in SAG work and a few collaborations with hospitals as well at MOH level.

The 3.5 clinical days can be varied. I am able to run the special clinics like health and mind, memory clinic, dermatology STC, procedure etc It gives me some depth and makes the work interesting.
I saw 48 patients today in a mix chronic acute urti que. I finish at 1pm , break for lunch and start work at 2pm and finish work at exactly 4:30pm. Most are routine cases but there is a guy who had Hba1c 8.9 that i managed to get him to start on metformin after he had declined for 2 years. It took some time and counselling. End the end of it he told me he is agreeable to start because i take the time and have the patience to explain many things to him unlike all the other doctors before me.
I like to think i probably give a few more years of good life.
We are a production line only when u allow yourself to be a production worker going through the motion la.
I can also tell u many other satisfying cases i've seen but i shall not bore you here.

I also do not see patient everyday unlike a private GP. Wonca coming, someone help me pay the fees and i get to spend 2 days away from work for example. I think i shall try to do some research to present at the next wonca which is not in Singapore! so i can take paid conference leave and bring my wife for a holiday

I also teach a fair bit although i'm letting the younger m.medders take more now. Year 3 NUS students, year 4 electives, year 5 saps in addition to residents and APNs. I have a whole fridge of thank you cards from students.

I don't earn a lot la. Not surgeon money, but not faring too badly. Annual handily beat most hired GPs i think and i work 8-4:30 pm hor.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the guy who wrote the long post on the possible routes.
I do not agree with you.

If i'm have to see 50-60 urti a day everyday for the rest of my life, i think i will go nuts.

The key to is find meaning in your work i guess. In those first few years after m.med many a times i want to quit to go private GP land, go community hospital , turn locum etc.

Now i'm still here in the polyclinic. I'm do not have FCFP and not doing some head or deputy job.
Can't say I'm loving it every day, there are good and bad days , but overall i'm not hating it. I try to engage myself in various things.
The key as one of my senior advised me, is to find your niche. She ended up doing the education track.
Right now i'm clinical 3.5 days ,0.5 days teaching and 1 day doing a unique external arrangement that is clinically quite light. Involved in SAG work and a few collaborations with hospitals as well at MOH level.

The 3.5 clinical days can be varied. I am able to run the special clinics like health and mind, memory clinic, dermatology STC, procedure etc It gives me some depth and makes the work interesting.
I saw 48 patients today in a mix chronic acute urti que. I finish at 1pm , break for lunch and start work at 2pm and finish work at exactly 4:30pm. Most are routine cases but there is a guy who had Hba1c 8.9 that i managed to get him to start on metformin after he had declined for 2 years. It took some time and counselling. End the end of it he told me he is agreeable to start because i take the time and have the patience to explain many things to him unlike all the other doctors before me.
I like to think i probably give a few more years of good life.
We are a production line only when u allow yourself to be a production worker going through the motion la.
I can also tell u many other satisfying cases i've seen but i shall not bore you here.

I also do not see patient everyday unlike a private GP. Wonca coming, someone help me pay the fees and i get to spend 2 days away from work for example. I think i shall try to do some research to present at the next wonca which is not in Singapore! so i can take paid conference leave and bring my wife for a holiday

I also teach a fair bit although i'm letting the younger m.medders take more now. Year 3 NUS students, year 4 electives, year 5 saps in addition to residents and APNs. I have a whole fridge of thank you cards from students.

I don't earn a lot la. Not surgeon money, but not faring too badly. Annual handily beat most hired GPs i think and i work 8-4:30 pm hor.

i think most impt is life satisfaction
as long as you find you are doing things that are meaningful

pay is secondary
after the first 100k, your life satisfaction even if you have the next 100k, isnt going to go up by a lot.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

so how much do u earn?
Im a 2nd yr AC in a gov hosp earning 330k/yr. u got or not?
thank u cards aint buying my next house nor feeding my belly

330k for an ac? Not possible.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the guy who wrote the long post on the possible routes.
I do not agree with you.

If i'm have to see 50-60 urti a day everyday for the rest of my life, i think i will go nuts.

The key to is find meaning in your work i guess. In those first few years after m.med many a times i want to quit to go private GP land, go community hospital , turn locum etc.

Now i'm still here in the polyclinic. I'm do not have FCFP and not doing some head or deputy job.
Can't say I'm loving it every day, there are good and bad days , but overall i'm not hating it. I try to engage myself in various things.
The key as one of my senior advised me, is to find your niche. She ended up doing the education track.
Right now i'm clinical 3.5 days ,0.5 days teaching and 1 day doing a unique external arrangement that is clinically quite light. Involved in SAG work and a few collaborations with hospitals as well at MOH level.

The 3.5 clinical days can be varied. I am able to run the special clinics like health and mind, memory clinic, dermatology STC, procedure etc It gives me some depth and makes the work interesting.
I saw 48 patients today in a mix chronic acute urti que. I finish at 1pm , break for lunch and start work at 2pm and finish work at exactly 4:30pm. Most are routine cases but there is a guy who had Hba1c 8.9 that i managed to get him to start on metformin after he had declined for 2 years. It took some time and counselling. End the end of it he told me he is agreeable to start because i take the time and have the patience to explain many things to him unlike all the other doctors before me.
I like to think i probably give a few more years of good life.
We are a production line only when u allow yourself to be a production worker going through the motion la.
I can also tell u many other satisfying cases i've seen but i shall not bore you here.

I also do not see patient everyday unlike a private GP. Wonca coming, someone help me pay the fees and i get to spend 2 days away from work for example. I think i shall try to do some research to present at the next wonca which is not in Singapore! so i can take paid conference leave and bring my wife for a holiday

I also teach a fair bit although i'm letting the younger m.medders take more now. Year 3 NUS students, year 4 electives, year 5 saps in addition to residents and APNs. I have a whole fridge of thank you cards from students.

I don't earn a lot la. Not surgeon money, but not faring too badly. Annual handily beat most hired GPs i think and i work 8-4:30 pm hor.

43yr old pgy 2, is residency still possible at my age? Or finish my bond and go gpland.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the guy who wrote the long post on the possible routes.
I do not agree with you.

If i'm have to see 50-60 urti a day everyday for the rest of my life, i think i will go nuts.

The key to is find meaning in your work i guess. In those first few years after m.med many a times i want to quit to go private GP land, go community hospital , turn locum etc.

Now i'm still here in the polyclinic. I'm do not have FCFP and not doing some head or deputy job.
Can't say I'm loving it every day, there are good and bad days , but overall i'm not hating it. I try to engage myself in various things.
The key as one of my senior advised me, is to find your niche. She ended up doing the education track.
Right now i'm clinical 3.5 days ,0.5 days teaching and 1 day doing a unique external arrangement that is clinically quite light. Involved in SAG work and a few collaborations with hospitals as well at MOH level.

The 3.5 clinical days can be varied. I am able to run the special clinics like health and mind, memory clinic, dermatology STC, procedure etc It gives me some depth and makes the work interesting.
I saw 48 patients today in a mix chronic acute urti que. I finish at 1pm , break for lunch and start work at 2pm and finish work at exactly 4:30pm. Most are routine cases but there is a guy who had Hba1c 8.9 that i managed to get him to start on metformin after he had declined for 2 years. It took some time and counselling. End the end of it he told me he is agreeable to start because i take the time and have the patience to explain many things to him unlike all the other doctors before me.
I like to think i probably give a few more years of good life.
We are a production line only when u allow yourself to be a production worker going through the motion la.
I can also tell u many other satisfying cases i've seen but i shall not bore you here.

I also do not see patient everyday unlike a private GP. Wonca coming, someone help me pay the fees and i get to spend 2 days away from work for example. I think i shall try to do some research to present at the next wonca which is not in Singapore! so i can take paid conference leave and bring my wife for a holiday

I also teach a fair bit although i'm letting the younger m.medders take more now. Year 3 NUS students, year 4 electives, year 5 saps in addition to residents and APNs. I have a whole fridge of thank you cards from students.

I don't earn a lot la. Not surgeon money, but not faring too badly. Annual handily beat most hired GPs i think and i work 8-4:30 pm hor.

Appreciate your post. I actually left polyclinic after mmed last year. I think the problem I face is that I have no idea what my niche is. (I do not enjoy research/education/qi + I also don't think I am suited to take on leadership roles based on my experience in residency. Hence I felt no point in ops if I just do clinical)
I am not sure if I am just burnt out, or maybe things in residency is too systematic/algorithmic (I e you essentially all follow a fixed path that is designed towards mmed, and after you get it, you actually don't know what to do)

Fast forward, can't say I am enjoying everything in GP land, as I agree that things are boring and knowledge decay is real. However, it is certainly less stressful, and in fairness, it's. Reasonably well paid job. Also bought a private property few months back so with all the mortgage kicking in, probably hard for me to leave my job. I also don't think I am making big money, but it's comfortable I guess. (I am single so at least I am earning enough to feed myself)

Not sure if I will look back with any regrets in 20-30 years time when I retire, but I guess I still have to trudge on for now.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

so how much do u earn?
Im a 2nd yr AC in a gov hosp earning 330k/yr. u got or not?
thank u cards aint buying my next house nor feeding my belly

Your 330k is believable but need to be surgical
Im medical and 280k

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Your 330k is believable but need to be surgical
Im medical and 280k

How is it possible? Base 12k, clinical allowance 2-3k vb+aws (3.5months)
180k + 42k = 222k

Originally Posted by Unregistered

330k for an ac? Not possible.

Not worth it to slog it out to be an AC.

I am making easily 260k/year in aesthetics. 3 years of experience. Started on 140k/year with no experience in a small clinic after breaking my bond.

Peers who have 5 years + experience are making over 500k/year as senior anchors.

Aesthetic medicine industry is something like banking, your income compounds rapidly as you climb higher.

Because you build up your network and get to know more patients who are in your “book”.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

so how much do u earn?
Im a 2nd yr AC in a gov hosp earning 330k/yr. u got or not?
thank u cards aint buying my next house nor feeding my belly

You pro.
I'm a laojiao AC in poly and consistently get above expectation
Based on the bonus release recently, I'm on track to scrap 280k this year end nia

The only way U can get 330k is if U have a lot of private patient and under the old scheme.
Even so, some quite prolific orthopods I knew under the old scheme at full con level is 320k for a knee and 370k for a spine.
So I highly doubt U tbh la but again, who knows.
Good for U. U want con me I also don't care. I'm quite happy with what I'm earning.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Not worth it to slog it out to be an AC.

I am making easily 260k/year in aesthetics. 3 years of experience. Started on 140k/year with no experience in a small clinic after breaking my bond.

Peers who have 5 years + experience are making over 500k/year as senior anchors.

Aesthetic medicine industry is something like banking, your income compounds rapidly as you climb higher.

Because you build up your network and get to know more patients who are in your “book”.

Good for you.
Aiyah, I look at myself in the mirror I'm embarassed liao
I don't think any aesthetic client will have any trust in me.