Your Loans/Education are too much!

[ENTSteven]

It is just amazing that you loans are so much!!

In Australia, i was in the old system, i paid 2000 per year to the government so i have around 12000 - 15000,

Now however the medical students need to pay 5500 per year, so thay will have 35000 in total in debt,

Mind you this is australian

The repayment in Australia is also different, it is means tested, ie if you earn more than 23000 per annum you repay i think 2-3% of your annual salary!!!

if you finish your degree and work in America, I dont even need to pay a cent, heheheheheh, because I dont have an official income in the Australia!

We called it HECS, the accountants say that this is the best debt anyone can get into!!!! you can see why

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[Winged Scapula]

While I agree that the debt incurred by US medical students is astronomical, having been on both sides of the medical system I can state:

US physicians, on the average, make MUCH more than Australian physicians, regardless of specialty. Its unusual for an Aussie physician to make more than $100K AUD per annum, which is around $55 USD per year. A pretty poor salary, especially for someone who's spent a number of years training. So while I don't advocate high tuition, if you're paid much more at the end, it makes more sense to me.

However, obviously we can't keep raising the price of tuition, malpractice and other associated practice costs and lowering the salary physicians make in the US.

Note that most of the more expensive US medical schools are the private ones - ones which may have bette resources, better caliber faculty, etc. than some of the Aussie schools. I can't say I was really impressed with the resources at Flinders or Adelaid Uni.

Many public US medical schools charge tuition under $10K per year which while still more than Australia, is quite reasonable.

 

[MacGyver]

Aussie docs make only 55k per year!!! Ouch!

What income percentile does that put them in Australia? top 40%?

I'm assuming that it must not be very hard to get into an Aussie med school as an Aussie, since docs over there make such poor money

 

[ENTSteven]

HI GUys,

I dont know where you get that figure from!!

As a junior doctor and like myself, true in the the first couple of years, we only make on average 55-65k (first year) some amke 80k like myself!!

and PGY2 anywhere between 75k-150k depnds on how hard you want to work

after speciallising, if you want to be an academic ie full time hospital 100 - 120k

but if you work public and private, for a surgeon like myself the income is at least, i mean at least 200 - 250K. and depends on the specialty for example ENT one can make anywhere bw 200k (very comfortable - 2-3 days of work per week) to 500 - 1000 K which is some of my mentors are making

I dont know where you get the figure 100 K for specialist!!

By the way, dont forget the buying power, things are generally cheaper in australia one dollar in australia can properly buy 2 dollars equivalent in US

 

[Kirk]

Is it true that in grade school in Australia, children are only taught how to end a sentence with an exclamation point!!!

Sorry, I couldn?t help myself!! Take it easy!!!

All right, I better quit!!

But I would be surprised if one Australian dollar bought 2 US dollars worth of stuff!!

Later!!

 

[ENTSteven]

sorry pow,

we are talking about spending power, not the actual moentary terms of actual dollar to dollar buying!!!

heheheh yes !!!! again

 

[Winged Scapula]

Originally posted by ENTSteven
HI GUys,

I dont know where you get that figure from!!

As a junior doctor and like myself, true in the the first couple of years, we only make on average 55-65k (first year) some amke 80k like myself!!

and PGY2 anywhere between 75k-150k depnds on how hard you want to work

after speciallising, if you want to be an academic ie full time hospital 100 - 120k

but if you work public and private, for a surgeon like myself the income is at least, i mean at least 200 - 250K. and depends on the specialty for example ENT one can make anywhere bw 200k (very comfortable - 2-3 days of work per week) to 500 - 1000 K which is some of my mentors are making

I dont know where you get the figure 100 K for specialist!!

By the way, dont forget the buying power, things are generally cheaper in australia one dollar in australia can properly buy 2 dollars equivalent in US

My $100K AUD is not for specialists but rather for a general physician (ie, GP), which again is MUCH less than what a Family Practitioner or Internist in the US would make. I "got" the figure from my years of living, working and training in the medical field in Australia and while it might be a tad higher now, you yourself state that an academic full time physician makes $100-120K per annum.

Obviously specialists make more, but again given the exchange rate, it is still less than what is made in the US. Then again, if one is only working 2-3 days per week, many people would "put up" with the lower income!

I would dispute the buying power argument as I found that only a few things were cheaper in Australia than in the US - mostly food. Electronics, automobiles and clothing were all generally more expensive than here in the US - not suprising, as many things are imported at a cost to the consumer.