Most of us will have heard by now that if you want to make money there are better careers to pursue than medicine. It is also true that a career in medicine will afford you a relatively comfortable living (provided you have a job). What is missing from this rather rosy picture however, is work life balance and sacrifices commonly made therein. For perspective, a recent GP supervisor of mine was almost certainly earning over $300,000 a year but after practice costs (receptionists, practice managers, rent, equipment, bills) it would turn out my GP was earning less per hour than his young receptionists (approximately my age). It sounds difficult to believe but it’s not an isolated story. The trade-off is that if you’re willing to see a patient every 15 minutes –as per the supermarket-style ‘medical centres’ – you can earn quite a decent salary. This brand of medicine, however, goes against all that you’re taught in medical school (not to mention your own conscience). Specialists working in hospitals often despair at the relative lack of workplace flexibility they have in comparison to GPs but the aforementioned GP would have much preferred a salaried job where all the other factors involved in running a business were not his concern. For a hospital specialist, however, it is true that you will be earning at least $250,000 a year but also that you will not have much time to spend that money and that hospital jobs are not so easy to come by (not to mention hospital specialist training positions!). This figure seems like a lot of money, and it is, but it doesn’t come without a lot of hard work first and is around the amount of money you need to be making if you want to have a ‘professional’ living – that is a nice house, in a ‘good’ suburb, with a nice car, occasional holidays and the ability to send your children through private schooling (if that is your wish). It won’t provide for much more than that and you shouldn’t expect an early retirement. This is assuming, of course, that you are sensible with your money because paying for all of these things will still require you to be careful with your money. Further, you must expect to that from starting medical school to becoming a fully trained specialist that some 15 years or more will pass and that junior specialists do not earn as much as their senior colleagues. Many people reading this will still see these figures as a ridiculously large sum of money and I would agree with them, it is a lot more than most Australians earn. It’s still not a living where you ‘won’t have to worry about money’, though. In fact, it’s comparable to what a tradesperson might earn at the same age assuming they were running their own business. For completeness this lists the NSW health award wages for interns, residents, and registrars according to their level of seniority. Intern: $56,021 Resident, 1st year: $65,664 Resident, 2nd year: $72,222 Resident, 3rd year: $81,800 Resident, 4th year: $88,802 Registrar 1st year: $81,800 Registrar 2nd year: $88,802 Registrar 3rd year: $95,832 Registrar 4th year: $102,582 Senior Registrar: $115,339 Findings from the Medicine in Australia Balancing Employment and Lifestyle (MABEL) study: Women earn 17% less than men* The average pre-tax salary of a 3700 sample of specialists (adjusted for age, experience, and hours worked) was $316,570 Earnings of self-employed specialists exceeded those of hospital employed specialists by 27% The highest paid specialists were diagnostic radiologists, orthopaedic surgeons, obstetrician gynaecologists and intensive care specialists The lowest paid were psychiatrists, paediatricians and thoracic medicine specialists Mean number of hours worked per week was 45 Female GPs earn 25% less than male GPs* GPs working in larger practices, regional and rural areas and areas where the supply of GPs is low had higher earnings, but the mean gross annual personal income for a GP was $177 883, more than 30% less than specialists *adjusted for hours worked, years of experience and other factors.
