A Doctor’s life. PART 4: FAQs and career options

In the previous parts of this blog, I’ve gone over the major steps and hurdles involved in completing your specialty training. Here are a few more things you need to know about your career options as a junior doctor.
 

Specialty training all sounds really hard, I only just want to become a GP!
General practice is a specialty! Admittedly, the training is a lot shorter than for other specialties (4 years vs over 12 years for surgery) and entry into a training program has traditionally always been a lot easier and less competitive than for other training programs. However, due to the shortage of training positions, and to the many bottlenecks within other training programs, the number of applications for GP training (in metropolitan areas) is fast exceeding the number of available positions. It may be a lot easier to become a GP than a radiologist or a surgeon, but it certainly won’t be a piece of cake.
 

Getting through a training program sounds really hard, are there no other options?
Yes there are. Few people are aware of it, but increasing numbers of medical trainees chose to not go down the specialty training path and instead chose to become career HMOs. Although their career progression is stuck at that stage, they are a valuable part of the workforce, especially in emergency departments within smaller hospitals. Some also chose to work as locums only, and work casually to fill in for absentees (at HMO level) as required by various hospitals. This can be extremely lucrative, as locum rates are often very high. However, it also requires flexibility in your living and working arrangements, which is not necessarily everybody’s piece of cake and can also become challenging when you have a family. Another option if you think all these years of training aren’t for you is to enter academic research, as an MD can afford you a position as a postdoc in a research lab. Beware that this path can be equally challenging, as research positions are competitive and with increasingly tight sources of funding available for research, the tenure track is somehow elusive.
 

What is I can’t make it through all the way in my training program?
If you decide to drop out, or fail to take the consultant exam within the deadline set by your college, you may decide to apply to another training program (this is where people usually decide to go for general practice). You can also decide to go down the career-HMO, locum or research way.
 

How much will I earn during my training and what will my hours be?
Don’t worry, just because you are training doesn’t mean you won’t earn a decent wage. Wages vary according to your state or specialties, but here are some average values. Bear in mind that Australian doctors are the envy of the medical community worldwide, as working hours during the full length of your training are capped at 75 to 85h/fortnight, depending on the specialty. For instance, ED trainees tend to work the fewest hours, due to night shifts and the intense nature of the work, while surgeons tend to work longer hours (just because they like being more hard-core than the rest of us mortals). This is designed to protect both doctors and patients. Medical trainees in France or the US who are often required to work 90h per week for close to minimum wages would really, really hate you if they ever had a chance to leave the hospital and find out about your working hours! In addition, it is worth noting that night shifts will be paid at a slightly higher rate and bank holidays at double the standard rate.

Now for actual numbers: as a lowly intern, you will earn around the $55,000 mark. That’s a fairly decent wage for a new graduate and will certainly feel like tons of money after all these years as a poor student! As an HMO, you salary will increase steeply to around $70,000, and you may even start supplementing your income by doing locum shifts! As a junior reg, you’ll get another steep increase around the $100,000 mark. After that, your salary will increase by $3/h every year, until you become a consultant. This is when you start earning the big bucks: $200,000 to 250,000/year for a medical consultant and $300,000 to 350,000 for a surgical consultant in the public hospital system. Bear in mind that you can make up to 4 to 5 times that amount if you chose to work in the private sector. Many consultants work part-time in the private sector and part-time in the public sector. This way, they earn more and also can practice in more relaxed settings, while having the safety of being able to handle difficult cases (or uninsured patients) within public hospitals. It’s also worth noting that consultants usually work fewer hours (with the exception of surgeons) and rarely have to do shift work (with the exception of ED consultants). As for GPs, their salaries vary depending on whether they are independent or employees, however they usually get paid per number of patients examined, so a very busy GP can easily earn as much as a medical or even a surgical consultant.