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How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

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  #871 (permalink)  
Old 02-12-2019, 10:54 PM
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Our end year cvb won't be much higher than the civil servants.
Those 45 hr civil servants complaining about their meagre bonuses when we work close to double and get peanuts!



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  #872 (permalink)  
Old 03-12-2019, 02:47 PM
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This forum wont take long posts

anyway in Canada I make about $300-$400k a year. Working 4 days a week. 10-3pm

I dont have to talk about money to patients. Nobody asks how much is this test or scan or medicine

I decided to migrate when SARS killed my friends and colleagues.
$350k annual income, after tax would be $217K/annum (~$18k/month). I don't think this is that different from GPs in private practice here?

Do you find that your spending power is higher in SG or CAN?

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  #873 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 12:58 AM
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$350k annual income, after tax would be $217K/annum (~$18k/month). I don't think this is that different from GPs in private practice here?

Do you find that your spending power is higher in SG or CAN?
Not him, but don’t forget, you still get a pension. You get free healthcare. Cars and houses are cheaper there and houses are all freehold. When you are unemployed the government takes care of you, thats something to think about. Your children can do whatever they want when they grow up there, unlike here where everyone’s scrambling to get into medicine or settle for engineering/business/IT, literally one can become a plumber and make a comfortable living. Can be a sportsman for a living if one’s good and passionate in it. Have you seen how much professional hockey players earn from Canada? Don’t have to serve 2 years compulsory military service. Don’t have to deal with stresses of a rat race at a young age. Singapore is literally rat race since day 1. Only problem I see in Canada is that some places have majority white people so you may feel uncomfortable no longer being the majority race.

Best is send your kid to Singapore to struggle for their growing years, pay the education yourself so don’t have NS obligation. Then send him back to Canada back to sheltered life to thrive with his acquired work ethic from Singapore. Going from Singapore to Canada is like PRC to Singapore, they come here excel in our system and use their good grades to apply for Oxbridge.

A lot of kids come here to study till they finish secondary school then send to UK to study. Get good grades in UK, where they don’t need to work as hard (eg competing in an asian dominated strong work culture environment) where UK grades are viewed the same as SG grades, despite differing bell curves. Then advance to Oxbridge, where in SG they may not get the same grades as they have in UK. Singapore is hard because you are fighting with ASEAN scholars who are smart and grew up in less affluent environments and are motivated and learn to work really hard to get out of their situation to find a better life so naturally, since we take so many in elite schools, it tends to push the curve up abit.

I know a friend who sent his kid to study in UK when she just finished her O levels. She’s currently studying in LSE now, not for me to say if she can still do the same here if she continued in Singapore. But still it’s something to think about. Of course, One could say if one can’t perform in a unforgiving environment (Singapore) how can one take on positions of high responsibility? (Eg Medical Doctors). In Singapore, at least for most, the main emphasis is on academic success, we train that very well, but we forget other facets of life like character building, which is actually very important, with the extra time free from studying and the environment that encourages one to follow their passion, both directly, other pathways in life are financially sustainable (eg sports) and indirectly, the society doesn’t have a stigma against non practical pathways (eg must be an engineer/lawyer/doctor). It teaches children to look past the $$ and appreciate the finer things in life like purpose and passion. Lots of people become a plumber, a farmer or an electrician and they make a decent living, but can the same be said here?

Even our own Doctors, we haven’t done a good job in choosing them. All we have are interviews and admission tests. But we don’t require community service which USA and Canada looks at before we admit doctors to medical school. Students can just get the grades apply and speak about why they want to be Doctors without any basis or experience to root their judgement on, how can their word be taken if they haven’t observed how it’s like to be a doctor.

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  #874 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 01:38 AM
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$350k annual income, after tax would be $217K/annum (~$18k/month). I don't think this is that different from GPs in private practice here?

Do you find that your spending power is higher in SG or CAN?
In Canada, most physicians will form a Professional Corporation.

My billings all go to my Profession Corp. And it is taxed at corporate rates.

s://.pwc.com/ca/en/services/tax/budgets/2019/alberta.html

For Alberta it is 11%.

If I withdraw money from my Corporation to my personal account, that become my personal income and is taxed at personal income tax rates. I hardly ever need more than $120k a year. Taxed at 10%

s://paycheckguru.com/tax-brackets-and-marginal-tax-rates-in-canada/alberta-personal-marginal-income-tax-rates/
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  #875 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 01:44 AM
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$350k annual income, after tax would be $217K/annum (~$18k/month). I don't think this is that different from GPs in private practice here?

Do you find that your spending power is higher in SG or CAN?
I have no idea how much the average GP in Singapore private market makes now. Is it $20k/month? That's higher than 10 years ago for sure.

Cost of living. In general the big ticket items like car and housing is 5 times cheaper here in Alberta than in Sinkieland. A new Toyota Corolla is about $20k. A 2nd hand Toyota RAV4 is about $25k. My single family walk out basement (3 levels of living space) with mountain view cost me $760k in 2013.

So if you count the modest 3-4 times cheaper cost of living here, your earnings has to multiplied accordingly.

Not to mention some thing money CANNOT buy. Eg every weekend during winter we go to the Rockies to ski. During summer we kayak and hike most weekends.

And THE WEATHER! Nice and cool. Dry. Not the hot humid hell like conditions in Sinkieland. My kids (I have 4 aged 18,17,12 and 2) all love it here!
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  #876 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 01:45 AM
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Not him, but don’t forget, you still get a pension. You get free healthcare. Cars and houses are cheaper there and houses are all freehold. When you are unemployed the government takes care of you, thats something to think about. Your children can do whatever they want when they grow up there, unlike here where everyone’s scrambling to get into medicine or settle for engineering/business/IT, literally one can become a plumber and make a comfortable living. Can be a sportsman for a living if one’s good and passionate in it. Have you seen how much professional hockey players earn from Canada? Don’t have to serve 2 years compulsory military service. Don’t have to deal with stresses of a rat race at a young age. Singapore is literally rat race since day 1. Only problem I see in Canada is that some places have majority white people so you may feel uncomfortable no longer being the majority race.

Best is send your kid to Singapore to struggle for their growing years, pay the education yourself so don’t have NS obligation. Then send him back to Canada back to sheltered life to thrive with his acquired work ethic from Singapore. Going from Singapore to Canada is like PRC to Singapore, they come here excel in our system and use their good grades to apply for Oxbridge.

A lot of kids come here to study till they finish secondary school then send to UK to study. Get good grades in UK, where they don’t need to work as hard (eg competing in an asian dominated strong work culture environment) where UK grades are viewed the same as SG grades, despite differing bell curves. Then advance to Oxbridge, where in SG they may not get the same grades as they have in UK. Singapore is hard because you are fighting with ASEAN scholars who are smart and grew up in less affluent environments and are motivated and learn to work really hard to get out of their situation to find a better life so naturally, since we take so many in elite schools, it tends to push the curve up abit.

I know a friend who sent his kid to study in UK when she just finished her O levels. She’s currently studying in LSE now, not for me to say if she can still do the same here if she continued in Singapore. But still it’s something to think about. Of course, One could say if one can’t perform in a unforgiving environment (Singapore) how can one take on positions of high responsibility? (Eg Medical Doctors). In Singapore, at least for most, the main emphasis is on academic success, we train that very well, but we forget other facets of life like character building, which is actually very important, with the extra time free from studying and the environment that encourages one to follow their passion, both directly, other pathways in life are financially sustainable (eg sports) and indirectly, the society doesn’t have a stigma against non practical pathways (eg must be an engineer/lawyer/doctor). It teaches children to look past the $$ and appreciate the finer things in life like purpose and passion. Lots of people become a plumber, a farmer or an electrician and they make a decent living, but can the same be said here?

Even our own Doctors, we haven’t done a good job in choosing them. All we have are interviews and admission tests. But we don’t require community service which USA and Canada looks at before we admit doctors to medical school. Students can just get the grades apply and speak about why they want to be Doctors without any basis or experience to root their judgement on, how can their word be taken if they haven’t observed how it’s like to be a doctor.
Hi I'm the canada doctor. Call me dr canuckbub. For a while I tried to be dr ozbloke. But the Oz plan didnt pan out.

Are you practicing outside of Singapore?
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  #877 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 01:52 AM
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Sinkies have been easily duped.

On paper the SGD is relatively strong. But the cost of living in Sinkieland is very very high.

Look at how much a car and house will cost you.

When you compare salaries you cannot just look at the numerical value alone. Your purchasing power is important.

There are also factors that are not just monetary in value. Pleasant tolerable weather. I find cold is easier to cope with using proper clothing than heat. My body also generates heat when I am active so cold weather helps make my activites more pleasant and enjoyable.

Canada isn't perfect of course and has its fair share of problems. But I wouldn't go back to sinkieland ever! BTW I renounced my sinkie citizenship in 2015 and have withdrawn every single cent of my CPF and Medisave!


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  #878 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 07:12 AM
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Not him, but don’t forget, you still get a pension. You get free healthcare. Cars and houses are cheaper there and houses are all freehold. When you are unemployed the government takes care of you, thats something to think about.
Most doctors in Canada do not have a pension (unless they are employed directly by the hospital). They are independent contractors that bill the government for their services.

When unemployed, Canadians get employment insurance because they paid into it while they are employed.

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Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
Your children can do whatever they want when they grow up there, unlike here where everyone’s scrambling to get into medicine or settle for engineering/business/IT, literally one can become a plumber and make a comfortable living. Can be a sportsman for a living if one’s good and passionate in it. Have you seen how much professional hockey players earn from Canada? Don’t have to serve 2 years compulsory military service. Don’t have to deal with stresses of a rat race at a young age. Singapore is literally rat race since day 1. Only problem I see in Canada is that some places have majority white people so you may feel uncomfortable no longer being the majority race.
Agree that blue collar jobs are poorly paid in SG compared to north american/european countries. Sportsman in Canada can't make much either unless you're Olympic level like Patrick Chan

While facing less academic pressure, children growing up in Canada have to deal with other stressors. There is strong peer pressure to use substances such as alcohol, weed or other illicit substances which are easier to come by, especially the first two items since they are legal.

I think one important but often overlooked factor is SG's safety. In SG, the crime rates are so low (even petty crimes) and homeless are few. I do not fear if my children stay out later in the evening in SG compared to Canada. Although violent crime rates in Canada are low, petty crime is actually quite high. I would be afraid if my children stayed out later in the evening. The homeless population is significantly larger and more visible in Canada than SG too.
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  #879 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 07:31 AM
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Most doctors in Canada do not have a pension (unless they are employed directly by the hospital). They are independent contractors that bill the government for their services.

When unemployed, Canadians get employment insurance because they paid into it while they are employed.



Agree that blue collar jobs are poorly paid in SG compared to north american/european countries. Sportsman in Canada can't make much either unless you're Olympic level like Patrick Chan

While facing less academic pressure, children growing up in Canada have to deal with other stressors. There is strong peer pressure to use substances such as alcohol, weed or other illicit substances which are easier to come by, especially the first two items since they are legal.

I think one important but often overlooked factor is SG's safety. In SG, the crime rates are so low (even petty crimes) and homeless are few. I do not fear if my children stay out later in the evening in SG compared to Canada. Although violent crime rates in Canada are low, petty crime is actually quite high. I would be afraid if my children stayed out later in the evening. The homeless population is significantly larger and more visible in Canada than SG too.
There is something called Old Age Pension that everyone gets. You get $613.58 monthly.

Sports? I think the big difference is you can win the Olympic Gold with Canada than with Singapore!

I agree the laws on crime in Canada are very lax. And criminals will want to give it a try. The Police also cannot be bothered with loss of property without injury.

So "safety" when it comes to being attacked and injured or killed.....I'd say it is still safe in Canada. But theft and hit and run etc is very common and goes unpunished.

The whole drug thing in Canada is a problem. But I think it goes with upbringing. You will find that it is more prevalent in certain ethnic groups and social strata.

Marijuana is very safe. Way safer than ETOH. It is over played as a damaging drug.

mark my words Cannabis will be the next wave of pharmaceuticals in the industry. We will be moving towards sublingual tablets, fast release. No more inhaled vape or smoke.

dr canuckbub


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  #880 (permalink)  
Old 04-12-2019, 07:34 AM
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In Singapore, at least for most, the main emphasis is on academic success, we train that very well, but we forget other facets of life like character building, which is actually very important, with the extra time free from studying and the environment that encourages one to follow their passion, both directly, other pathways in life are financially sustainable (eg sports) and indirectly, the society doesn’t have a stigma against non practical pathways (eg must be an engineer/lawyer/doctor). It teaches children to look past the $$ and appreciate the finer things in life like purpose and passion. Lots of people become a plumber, a farmer or an electrician and they make a decent living, but can the same be said here?
I think one can only "look past the $$" when one have the basic survival needs met. As parents, my philosophy is that my parental responsibility is to ensure that our children have the necessary skills needed to at least sustain themselves. After that, they can go ahead and pursue anything that they are passionate about.

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Even our own Doctors, we haven’t done a good job in choosing them. All we have are interviews and admission tests. But we don’t require community service which USA and Canada looks at before we admit doctors to medical school. Students can just get the grades apply and speak about why they want to be Doctors without any basis or experience to root their judgement on, how can their word be taken if they haven’t observed how it’s like to be a doctor.
I don't think the selection process is to be blamed. The selection process is actually quite similar between SG and US/CAN. In US/Canada, they also place a very strong emphasis on GPA (CAN) or MCAT (US), extracurricular activities and interview performance.

I think the key difference is that Medicine in US/CAN is a post-graduate degree, so students start medical school at a much later age (average is ~24-25 years old) and therefore more mature from their other life experiences). Mature students are clearer about their goals and are also better at managing interpersonal relationships compared to 20 year olds.

I think the medical training system in SG is also partly to be blamed. The emphasis on good communication skills and respect for patients' autonomy is not as strong, compared to the Western societies.
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