How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi all

I understand that jobs are limited and getting a consultant job or residency position is going to be tough - in light of that, how does one become an RP or get an offer?

Is it possible to become an RP having only done an MO posting in the relevant department or is residency a requirement?

I often hear doctors speaking of migrating to other countries, such as canada, australia or new zealand where the hours and pay are better. How realistic is this with a Singaporean degree? I understand it isn't recognised by many countries.

The NUS YLL degree is highly respected internationally and most first world countries would readily accept its graduates, but MOH has requested its Commonwealth counterparts like Australia/NZ/Canada to NOT recognise the YLL degree as an equivalent degree to intentionally restrict Singaporean doctors mobility, consequently there's more hoops to jump through instead of being able to practice straightaway like a local graduate. Now this used to be fine back in the 90s and even early 2000s, however now with MOH ramping up its intake from third world countries to increase competition for us, isn't it high time MOH remove this artificial barrier to Singaporean doctors mobility so we can help promote the brand of Singapore Medicine beyond our shores?

Don't know why there have been so many "troll" type of responses recently. Well it just goes to illustrate that there is a growing sense of hostility against doctors in general. It may not be so good to discuss our salaries in detail in such a public forum.
If you have passion in medicine, being a doc is the best job as it ticks all the boxes for fulfillment in career':
1. Remunerated well (talking about AC and above, so hang in there. Your pay will increase exponentially once you are a specialist, usually in your mid 30s)
2. A job that brings benefit to society
3. Autonomy and having control (also AC and above)
4. Job security

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Well for one I don't have to work long hours each day. I spend around 4-5 hours a day on my start up and I invest my money into sources that generates passive income. Around 15k of my monthly income is passive and I expect this to grow with time as I invest more and expand further. The majority of my income however comes with more risky investments but with careful planning and risk management it is highly unlikely those will end up failing. Will u rather be stuck in a tedious job working long hours each day or pull up ur socks and start learning how to live life the right way? I still have great admiration for doctors for all the sacrifices they make to keep us healthy and wealthy but I just couldn't get round the fact of why so many of them are willing to sacrifice so much of their life to care for people who are unrelated to them. Maybe I'm selfish and I'm the worst human being but ultimately I care more for myself and my family than for people unrelated to me. Huge respect to the doctors. It's such a pity

Not all doctors are selfless BTW.

But if you aren't a professional you will never be able to understand the satisfaction that comes with honing your skills in a chosen profession and possibly becoming very competent in the field.

Money is fantastic but so is being better at what you do everyday.

There are many high earning people in all sorts of fields who continue to work insane hours and participate actively professionally until they're 70 or even 80 years old. Do you think they do it for money?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

The NUS YLL degree is highly respected internationally and most first world countries would readily accept its graduates, but MOH has requested its Commonwealth counterparts like Australia/NZ/Canada to NOT recognise the YLL degree as an equivalent degree to intentionally restrict Singaporean doctors mobility, consequently there's more hoops to jump through instead of being able to practice straightaway like a local graduate. Now this used to be fine back in the 90s and even early 2000s, however now with MOH ramping up its intake from third world countries to increase competition for us, isn't it high time MOH remove this artificial barrier to Singaporean doctors mobility so we can help promote the brand of Singapore Medicine beyond our shores?

Do you have a source on MOH restricting the occupational mobility of Singaporean doctors?

That does not address the root cause presently, i.e. that there's little progression for junior doctors in singapore and the life of one is to be underpaid and overworked because of poor manpower allocation.

Bit of a sidetrack here. I was just wondering what is the general consensus regarding international medical graduates' caliber like those who graduated from the UK or Australia. How do they compare to local grads ? Are they severely lacking in knowledge and skills ?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Bit of a sidetrack here. I was just wondering what is the general consensus regarding international medical graduates' caliber like those who graduated from the UK or Australia. How do they compare to local grads ? Are they severely lacking in knowledge and skills ?

Im a UK singaporean med student. From what I heard, takes about 6 mths for UK grads, 12 for Australian grads to acclimatise apparently. I have a few seniors who are doing quite well back in sg, one won best junior dr award or something.

most sg/msia students in UK unis tend to top their batches so their knowledge is normally quite good, guess it is just adjusting to a different system, learning malay, dialect, mandarin etc

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Do you have a source on MOH restricting the occupational mobility of Singaporean doctors?

That does not address the root cause presently, i.e. that there's little progression for junior doctors in singapore and the life of one is to be underpaid and overworked because of poor manpower allocation.

Seems very rare that singaporean doctors leave sg though, wonder why? I only know of this gp who migrated to NZ but passed away in an accident, was in the news few years ago.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Im a UK singaporean med student. From what I heard, takes about 6 mths for UK grads, 12 for Australian grads to acclimatise apparently. I have a few seniors who are doing quite well back in sg, one won best junior dr award or something.

most sg/msia students in UK unis tend to top their batches so their knowledge is normally quite good, guess it is just adjusting to a different system, learning malay, dialect, mandarin etc

Thanks for sharing your answer to my question. I'm curious as to how international medical graduates, specifically UK medical graduates fair in terms of procedural skills when held against their counterparts who completed medical tutelage in singapore. For example, I read from sources online which claimed that HO routinely performs procedures such as LP, femoral stabs and chest drains in Singapore. My question is, will UK graduates be able to perform the abovementioned procedures up to the standard of a Singapore medical graduate? In fact, were you ever taught the procedures in your medical school in the UK? I don't think it is even mandatory to get those procedures signed off as a core procedure before UK graduates complete their FY1 year.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for sharing your answer to my question. I'm curious as to how international medical graduates, specifically UK medical graduates fair in terms of procedural skills when held against their counterparts who completed medical tutelage in singapore. For example, I read from sources online which claimed that HO routinely performs procedures such as LP, femoral stabs and chest drains in Singapore. My question is, will UK graduates be able to perform the abovementioned procedures up to the standard of a Singapore medical graduate? In fact, were you ever taught the procedures in your medical school in the UK? I don't think it is even mandatory to get those procedures signed off as a core procedure before UK graduates complete their FY1 year.

From what I know LP is unlikely to be done by an F1, not sure of the rest, probably all at least F2 or CT/ST1 (resident year 1). Probably have to learn on the job? I guess a HO would know it since they do 30-36h shifts and might be alone at night

What stage are you at now?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

From what I know LP is unlikely to be done by an F1, not sure of the rest, probably all at least F2 or CT/ST1 (resident year 1). Probably have to learn on the job? I guess a HO would know it since they do 30-36h shifts and might be alone at night

What stage are you at now?

FY1 that's why the uncertainty on whether I should return to singapore or will I be looked down by my colleagues for not being able to perform procedures as well as them if I return. Which stage are you at ?