How is life as a doctor in Singapore?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I also forgot to add.
You can also make a difference in many other jobs.
Not just healthcare.

Be an entrepreneur.
Do finance and banking, earn lots of money and use it to bless others.
Do a corporate job in an organization with good values, rise up the ranks and treat your colleagues right.
Many other avenues for you to make a difference without having to kill yourself in the process.
But if you have already started your course of study then it’s too late I guess for now.

Thank you for writing up a reply!

I'm looking to switch careers to OT or speech, leaning more to speech, not a student yet. I used to work in banking and now I'm still in the corp world but another industry. The thing about corp world is that it's not that easy to survive (like everywhere). Treating colleagues well in corp world is lol.. its because u r nice and not because u expect the same unless being nice is the culture in the company. The term is politically correct.

If by any chance u r thinking to go into corp work.. a satisfied person is one who is either very interested in the area that they do (say accounting or engineering or auditing or finance, coding) or the industry itself (say shipping, banking, aerospace) because at the end of the day, the goal of every corp worker is to increase the revenue of the company. Nothing is more important than that. Ur very existence is tied to the kpi, to deal w ur boss or bosses, the people in the other dept and then hope to get promoted.

Then there r those who r engaged in the operational aspects of a company which sometimes can just be mind numbing and meaningless unless u really love the company so much. I think many people have other things in their life which they associate meaning to and work is just a way to earn money. But... haha I cannot.

I guess so yes there could b a bias in forums because rhe happy ones will not b looking at forums to express themselves.

When i went to the ICU, I had a lot of thoughts. ' Oh no why r they alone. R they in pain. R they bored. Will I be like that, how do ppl work in here for so many years, will I b able to, I might be depressed if I have to - being trapped in a room w no sunlight and dim lighting, how do they enjoy this, they must b really kind, must be tiring for them, will I be able to do it. ' these thoughts r actually very exhausting for me lol. Is it normal? Do u all have these thoughts too?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thank you for writing up a reply!

I'm looking to switch careers to OT or speech, leaning more to speech, not a student yet. I used to work in banking and now I'm still in the corp world but another industry. The thing about corp world is that it's not that easy to survive (like everywhere). Treating colleagues well in corp world is lol.. its because u r nice and not because u expect the same unless being nice is the culture in the company. The term is politically correct.

If by any chance u r thinking to go into corp work.. a satisfied person is one who is either very interested in the area that they do (say accounting or engineering or auditing or finance, coding) or the industry itself (say shipping, banking, aerospace) because at the end of the day, the goal of every corp worker is to increase the revenue of the company. Nothing is more important than that. Ur very existence is tied to the kpi, to deal w ur boss or bosses, the people in the other dept and then hope to get promoted.

Then there r those who r engaged in the operational aspects of a company which sometimes can just be mind numbing and meaningless unless u really love the company so much. I think many people have other things in their life which they associate meaning to and work is just a way to earn money. But... haha I cannot.

I guess so yes there could b a bias in forums because rhe happy ones will not b looking at forums to express themselves.

When i went to the ICU, I had a lot of thoughts. ' Oh no why r they alone. R they in pain. R they bored. Will I be like that, how do ppl work in here for so many years, will I b able to, I might be depressed if I have to - being trapped in a room w no sunlight and dim lighting, how do they enjoy this, they must b really kind, must be tiring for them, will I be able to do it. ' these thoughts r actually very exhausting for me lol. Is it normal? Do u all have these thoughts too?

You are crazy. Ok lah. Go do healthcare. Then come back and share which is better banking o healthcare ok?

Oh sorry A&E not ICU

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Oh sorry A&E not ICU

Healthcare you dealing on frontline with people who are unhappy. Sick. In pain. Suffering. It is not a happy place to work. Many frustrated customers who have unrealistic expectations.

Think of it as working in the department of bank that deals only with people who have lost money on stock market. Lost their jobs. Lost income. Bankrupt. And you have to help them restructure their debts and help them financially meanwhile they dont want to pay anything either.

Like previous poster wrote you can help people in other ways. Healthcare is largely a thankless industry

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You are crazy. Ok lah. Go do healthcare. Then come back and share which is better banking o healthcare ok?

different industries attract different kinds of people. banking.. im not sure if u have worked there before.. it can be a hire and fire culture and more..

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Healthcare you dealing on frontline with people who are unhappy. Sick. In pain. Suffering. It is not a happy place to work. Many frustrated customers who have unrealistic expectations.

Think of it as working in the department of bank that deals only with people who have lost money on stock market. Lost their jobs. Lost income. Bankrupt. And you have to help them restructure their debts and help them financially meanwhile they dont want to pay anything either.

Like previous poster wrote you can help people in other ways. Healthcare is largely a thankless industry

understand that its facing people who r unhappy because of their health conditions.. actually thats one point that is making me hesitant about doing it. its the point about me being averse to associate myself with being ill or illness. but being unable to help / having no skills also feels bad. i think theres an emotional toll that comes w it.

lol anyway about that dept.. i dun think there's such a dept in a bank to 'help'.. haha it's a bank.. its about money, not about people. there will b a dept that keeps calling u to ask u to pay back the money. in this case, there is an external agency that helps with debt restructuring

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thank you for writing up a reply!

I'm looking to switch careers to OT or speech, leaning more to speech, not a student yet. I used to work in banking and now I'm still in the corp world but another industry. The thing about corp world is that it's not that easy to survive (like everywhere). Treating colleagues well in corp world is lol.. its because u r nice and not because u expect the same unless being nice is the culture in the company. The term is politically correct.

If by any chance u r thinking to go into corp work.. a satisfied person is one who is either very interested in the area that they do (say accounting or engineering or auditing or finance, coding) or the industry itself (say shipping, banking, aerospace) because at the end of the day, the goal of every corp worker is to increase the revenue of the company. Nothing is more important than that. Ur very existence is tied to the kpi, to deal w ur boss or bosses, the people in the other dept and then hope to get promoted.

Then there r those who r engaged in the operational aspects of a company which sometimes can just be mind numbing and meaningless unless u really love the company so much. I think many people have other things in their life which they associate meaning to and work is just a way to earn money. But... haha I cannot.

I guess so yes there could b a bias in forums because rhe happy ones will not b looking at forums to express themselves.

When i went to the ICU, I had a lot of thoughts. ' Oh no why r they alone. R they in pain. R they bored. Will I be like that, how do ppl work in here for so many years, will I b able to, I might be depressed if I have to - being trapped in a room w no sunlight and dim lighting, how do they enjoy this, they must b really kind, must be tiring for them, will I be able to do it. ' these thoughts r actually very exhausting for me lol. Is it normal? Do u all have these thoughts too?

I guess you need to ask yourself what gives you the greatest satisfaction so far over the course of your life.
Some people like the more corporate / big scale / macro kind of work, some like more front line / client facing kind of roles providing a more direct value to your patients / clients.
In healthcare, particularly in allied health I would say, you are mostly confined to your patient facing role. Yes you may have some opportunities to head your department or start your own clinic, but you aren’t going to be a big shot in the healthcare institution, as the leadership is still very doctor-centric.
However if you derive satisfaction from helping one patient at a time, who may or may not be appreciative, then I guess it’s not too bad. There are also non-patient servicing KPIs in healthcare, admin issues, COVID issues, paperwork etc as with all jobs.

Lol been reading replies about the job switch thing.
Tbh I just wanna say, I think u should post in a allied health forum la.
A doctors job scope is v diff from allied health in terms of hours, responsibilities, expectation etc. we aren’t the best ppl to advice
But like some of my colleagues pointed out, it’s not a great place to be in surrounded by sick, suffering ppl at their worse (n thus also behaving at their worse, yelling at u, being demanding etc).
The way u described ur feelings towards ppl in icu just gives me the impression ur not tough enough for healthcare but of cos I could be wrong cos 1) don’t need to be politically correct that all professions r respectable, the truth is allied health job is honestly piece of cake la compared to doctor so who knows mayeb u cna survive 2) I Hvent met u before so maybe I judged u wrong
At the end of the day look within urself n consider what everyone is saying here seriously. Also speak to allied health ppl who know it best. good luck

Any UK doctors here? Can advice if consultant in UK has banding as well? So 40-50% more compared to basis pay?

I am a foreign graduate looking to return to SG after completing my residency training. What would be the best way to approach my job search? Should I reach out to department heads directly?