How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Agree. Why are people so discouraging? You can do medicine at any age

Because it’s already crap when you enter at undergrad and now this person is considering postgrad.

There’s so many ways to make money at a mid career level but they are foolish enough to think of resetting everything and going back to medical school.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

For career switcher, is there much difference going to UK to do a 5/6 year MBBS vs MD in Australia?

Seems that UK cost more, farther from home, takes longer unless you do the GEM degree and admission wise also way more selective for internationals.

In terms of training, preparation for PGY, getting into good specialty (school / research CV), getting MOHH grant, is there any difference?

Also, UK has intermediate qualification like IMT/CST, would that make returning SG to train easier?

A top rank MBA from US has a higher ROI than going back to medical school… consulting and investment pay starts at 20k a month base if you have a top ranked MBA plus career experience

Bros thanks a lot for all your advice.
I am actually in IBD and at the edge of getting kicked out. Mid-ranked, expensive and lack of tangible skills.

Have some savings but sadly it is easy to get unemployed for a year or two. Friends have been jobless for almost a year and some of my juniors found only 7k a month job with 5 yoe (cut of 50%) after 6-8 months of search.

Ultimately I just wanted to do something I wanted to do since younger after all these and at the junction of my career. Wish I could do younger but CMI at that time.

Feels like going down the road working as a psych or even aesthetic doc part time while having a family is still better than working in the corporate world 9-9 making 15k in my late 40s seeing some of us actually went to GLC and climbing from mid bottom ladder once we leave IB.

I speak cantonese so hopefully if SG is that bad I may also try hk (but they don't recognize duke nus) where their pgy2 pays 13k a month which isn't bad imo. Partner is from HK as well so going back won't be a huge obstacle.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

investment banking

Where does the D come from?

Despite all the negativity here I think u wanting to do medicine isn’t that stupid an idea. Post grad would take 4 years rather than 5 and if u don’t have to be bonded in singapore, u have the option of working in Aus or HK where you would be getting paid a lot more right off the bat. a lot of the doctors here are also the ones who are more jaded with the system by virtue of the fact that this is an online forum and ur successful specialists aren’t exactly going to be posting hate comments here.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Bros thanks a lot for all your advice.
I am actually in IBD and at the edge of getting kicked out. Mid-ranked, expensive and lack of tangible skills.

Have some savings but sadly it is easy to get unemployed for a year or two. Friends have been jobless for almost a year and some of my juniors found only 7k a month job with 5 yoe (cut of 50%) after 6-8 months of search.

Ultimately I just wanted to do something I wanted to do since younger after all these and at the junction of my career. Wish I could do younger but CMI at that time.

Feels like going down the road working as a psych or even aesthetic doc part time while having a family is still better than working in the corporate world 9-9 making 15k in my late 40s seeing some of us actually went to GLC and climbing from mid bottom ladder once we leave IB.

I speak cantonese so hopefully if SG is that bad I may also try hk (but they don't recognize duke nus) where their pgy2 pays 13k a month which isn't bad imo. Partner is from HK as well so going back won't be a huge obstacle.

You are already in the top 10% of your cohort if you are working in IBD. Why can’t you transition to less competitive roles like consulting or even wealth management?

You will get a salary cut for sure, but it’s still better than forking out time and money to study medicine. And trust me, medicine is a hard course to study it requires full time commitment which is not feasible you already have a spouse or kids

You mentioned psych or aesthetics.. those have good work life balance but are you aware you have to slog for at least 10 years before you can get there? 5 years of med school + 4 years full reg for aesthetics and 5 years of med school + HO+ 5 years of psych residency

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Despite all the negativity here I think u wanting to do medicine isn’t that stupid an idea. Post grad would take 4 years rather than 5 and if u don’t have to be bonded in singapore, u have the option of working in Aus or HK where you would be getting paid a lot more right off the bat. a lot of the doctors here are also the ones who are more jaded with the system by virtue of the fact that this is an online forum and ur successful specialists aren’t exactly going to be posting hate comments here.

Overseas is not a bed of roses either. You have to deal with high taxes racism bad food and weather to say the least, as well as detachment away from family. So many singaporean students who return from uk/aus every year despite studying there

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Bros thanks a lot for all your advice.
I am actually in IBD and at the edge of getting kicked out. Mid-ranked, expensive and lack of tangible skills.

Have some savings but sadly it is easy to get unemployed for a year or two. Friends have been jobless for almost a year and some of my juniors found only 7k a month job with 5 yoe (cut of 50%) after 6-8 months of search.

Ultimately I just wanted to do something I wanted to do since younger after all these and at the junction of my career. Wish I could do younger but CMI at that time.

Feels like going down the road working as a psych or even aesthetic doc part time while having a family is still better than working in the corporate world 9-9 making 15k in my late 40s seeing some of us actually went to GLC and climbing from mid bottom ladder once we leave IB.

I speak cantonese so hopefully if SG is that bad I may also try hk (but they don't recognize duke nus) where their pgy2 pays 13k a month which isn't bad imo. Partner is from HK as well so going back won't be a huge obstacle.

You already vested a lot of time and effort in your career, so it’s honestly a waste if you choose a hard reset by going back to medical school.

Medical school does not solve your employment problems. What you should be doing now is to upskill yourself by doing an MBA or just moving to a different role where there’s more job openings available.

It’s unavoidable you have to take a pay cut but it’s still better compared to being in the red if you go to medical school.

Beyond the financial aspects, being a medical student is a tough time commitment and it only gets worse after you graduate. The end route as an aesthetic or psych doctor might be rosy but you have to commit yourself to at least 10 years of hardship before you reach there.

Doing so will also push back your retirement plans because you practically have to exhaust a lot of your savings to go back to medical school.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are already in the top 10% of your cohort if you are working in IBD. Why can’t you transition to less competitive roles like consulting or even wealth management?

You will get a salary cut for sure, but it’s still better than forking out time and money to study medicine. And trust me, medicine is a hard course to study it requires full time commitment which is not feasible you already have a spouse or kids

You mentioned psych or aesthetics.. those have good work life balance but are you aware you have to slog for at least 10 years before you can get there? 5 years of med school + 4 years full reg for aesthetics and 5 years of med school + HO+ 5 years of psych residency

tbh Freg is definitely possible within 2-3 years if u are solid. Also he wont face any racism in Hong Kong and would be able to make a substantial amount there

All things said and done don’t take any advice from doctors on here. Quite honestly we are not the best people to ask because we don’t represent all aspects of Medicine and we generally have different sentiments from a lot of specialists