Pay for doctors in Britain and USA

Basically, I am not a rich or poor person, just staying at middle class in Britian. Just nosy. I checked how much US medical doctors earn. I found the following on a blog. I am not sure it's a real figure or not.

The 2007 mean salary in USA for MD resident in any specialty.

On the other hand, in the UK, doctors' salaries are as follow.

Junior doctors
In the most junior hospital doctor post (foundation year 1) a doctor on a 50% supplement would earn £32,087. This increases in the second year (foundation year 2) to £39,798. A doctor in specialist training on a 50% supplement could earn from £43,000 to £67,000.

Staff grades and associate specialists (SAS)
Currently, staff grade doctors earn between £32,547 and £60,968. Associate specialist doctors earn between £35,977 and £78,039.

Consultants
Consultants can earn between £71,000 to £161,000, dependent on length of service and payments of additional performance related supplements.

General practitioners
The profit of GPs varies according to the services they provide for their patients and the way they choose to provide these services. Most GPs would expect to earn between £80,000 and £120,000.

Salaried GPs employed directly by PCTs earn approximately £51,000 to £77,000, dependent on, among other factors, length of service and experience.
Source

Generally, people in Burma pretty impressed PHD holders. I also respect them as they have learnt one area in detail, even though it is not sure the thesis is practically useful or not. But interestingly, post doctoral research assistant's salary is less than junior medical doctor's. Why?. Maybe research works depend on fund available. Medical doctor's salary comes directly from taxpayer's money.

Check the following job advert from job.ac.uk

Post-Doctoral Research Assistant, Primare Socio-Economic Cluster
Faculty of Social Science & Business
School of Geography and Marine Institute
Salary £28289 to £32796 pa – Grade 7

Holland trip

I've not posted here for such a long time. Of course, I've been a bit busy. But lately, I went to Netherland where my friend's family lives. It was one night trip. Nice country. People are quite friendly. Not angry like the majority of Londoners. Amsterdam is a city of canals. Those are like a web. Bicycles are one of the main transports. You can also hire a bike. 10Euro for 24 hours. Quite cheap, isn't it?

Check some photos on left column. Most photos I took were in Amersfoort and Amsterdam.

New immigration rules to restrict International Medical Graduates'

If you read the follwing announcement from Department of Health, you can know that Britian no longer wants international doctors graduated outside EU. Last year, doctor's permit free training was scrapped. It was introduced when Britain needed to import foreign doctors. Now no longer required and even some British graduates are not able to secure a training post as there have been too much international migrant graduates occupying NHS hospitals.


New immigration rules to restrict International Medical Graduates' access to UK post-graduate medical training

New immigration rules that will restrict international medical graduates' (IMGs) access to UK post-graduate medical training were today welcomed by the Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

The Home Office has laid immigration rules implementing the first part of the new Points Based System, which is the Tier 1 (General) route for highly skilled migrants. The rules impose a condition on Tier 1 (General) migrants and Highly Skilled Migrants prohibiting them from taking a post as a doctor in training.

The new rules take effect from 29th February. They will not impact on recruitment until 2009 and will prohibit the following people from accessing post-graduate medical training posts:

From February 29th

- Migrants from overseas who are applying to the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)

- Migrants already in the UK who are applying to switch to Tier 1 (General)

From April 1st

- Migrants in India who are applying for entry clearance as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant.

The following people will be exempt from the regulations:

- Those who currently have leave to remain in the UK as a Highly Skilled Migrant

- Postgraduate doctors or dentists who are seeking leave to remain as a Tier 1 (General) Migrant

The new immigration rules are expected to reduce the potential pool of new migrant applicants by between 3,000 to 5,000 in 2009.

These are temporary changes to the immigration rules. The Department of Health is considering longer-term solutions that will ensure the policy of self-sufficiency is achieved.

Because of the high numbers of potential IMG applicants that will be exempt from the Home Office regulations - currently estimated at around 10,000 - without further action on top of the new immigration rules the Department estimates around 700 to 1,100 UK doctors will be displaced and unable to secure a training place in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

Therefore, the Department is today beginning a consultation setting out proposals for managing applications to the foundation and specialty training programmes from Highly Skilled Migrant doctors with leave to remain in the UK. Our preferred option is to implement guidance stating that IMGs should be considered for post-graduate and specialty training posts in the NHS only if there are no suitable UK or European Economic Area (EEA) applicants.

The Department consulted on issuing this guidance for specialty recruitment in both 2007 and 2008. The Court of Appeal ruled that this guidance was unlawful. However, the House of Lords is hearing the Department's appeal on February 28th and we expect a decision in May. If the Department's appeal is successful, the guidance could be implemented in time for the next round of recruitment on June 1st.

Most international medical graduates who come to work or train in the NHS do not stay very long - over half leave within four years of joining the NHS. Ultimately, the NHS loses the trained GPs and consultants it needs when IMGs leave.

Alan Johnson said:

"Doctors from overseas have played an invaluable role in the NHS for many years and will continue to do so. They have helped us fill key shortage areas such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. But as the number of UK medical school graduates expands, there should be less need to rely on overseas doctors for these specialties.

"It can cost up to £250,000 to train a UK medical student and, with the increase in UK medical schools, we are moving to a policy of self-sufficiency. If UK medical graduates cannot access specialist training because of a large number of applicants from outside Europe, then it is only right that we should consider what needs to be done.

"I cannot stress enough that we are not closing the door to international doctors working in the NHS. These new rules only apply to training places in the UK. International doctors will still be able to come and work in the NHS in thousands of other non-training posts and will still be able to fill training places in shortage specialties."

Notes to editors

1. The Department of Health's consultation paper on International Medical Graduates is available via the MMC website at http://www.mmc.nhs.uk. The consultation will end on May 6th.

2. Tier 1 (General) of the Points-Based system is coming into effect in India on 1 April and will be rolled out worldwide by the end of the summer. It will be replacing the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. By placing a condition on new migrants in the HSMP from February 29th we are ensuring that IMGs from India are not being disadvantaged.

3. Increased investment in medical training since 1997 means that the NHS no longer relies so heavily upon doctors from outside Europe. We now have four new medical schools and medical school places in England have increased from 3,749 in 1997 to 6,451 in 2007.

4. In the 2007 specialty recruitment, there were nearly 28,000 applicants for around 15,500 training places in England, a ratio of 2:1. Around 45% of applicants had trained outside the EEA.

5. It is estimated that at the end of the recruitment in 2007, over 1,300 applicants from UK medical schools had not secured a training place in 2007 because of competition from applicants who trained outside the EEA. We expect a similar number to be affected this year. This does not mean that they cannot work as doctors as there are other employment opportunities for UK medical graduates in the NHS. It does, however, mean that they were not able to progress their careers in a training place.

6. The forecast for 2008 is that competition will be even higher than in 2007, with a forecast competition ratio of 3:1. Over half of applicants are likely to have trained outside the EEA.

7. Tier 1 (General) of the Points-Based system is coming into effect in India on 1 April and will be rolled out worldwide by the end of the summer. It will be replacing the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. By placing a condition on new migrants in the HSMP from February 29th we are ensuring that IMGs from India are not being disadvantaged.

[ENDS]

Richmond House 79 Whitehall London SW1A 2NS Telephone: (Dept of Health)

Client ref 2008/0016

GNN ref 157261P
Source

A pathetic advert on AOL home page

These days, many people have been facing high interest rates, credit card debts and problem with mortgages in Britain and the US.

The number of people who managed to take out a home loan last month collapsed to its lowest level since 1995.

The figures, published yesterday by the Bank of England, show just 73,000 were approved for a mortgage to buy a house in December.

In a rapid downturn, the number has slumped 35 per cent since last summer and it is the latest sign that the boom in Britain's housing market has come to a grinding halt. Source

In England, you can get 3 bed room house with £250K mortgage. But these days, mortgage approval has been difficult while many people are in debt troubles. But some people are not aware of the real situation or making a joke. Yesterday, when I logged on AOL, that advert made me amazed. If it is properties for under £200,000, it would be something attractive.

Myanmar doctors and British Health Service

Nowadays, more and more Myanmar doctors are working in British hospitals across the UK. I believe there are at least one or two Myanmar doctors working in each hospital. In fact, that number is nothing compared with Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshi doctors who have been major contributors of National Health Service in Britain.

Basically there are two kinds of Myanmar doctors in the UK, based on their origin. The first group is those who came in with their own money. Most are young graduates. They do not join government service in Burma. Once they complete their 1 year internship, they come to Britain. They sit General medical council's PLAB test to be eligible to practise in the UK.

Another group is those who came with Myanmar government scholarship programme. After achieving master degree in Burma, they need to take selection exam. Ministry of Health selects the candidates with highest scores and send them to UK for further degrees,such as MRCP, MRCOG. Government provide them £5000 as scholarship award, as far as I know. For those from Myanmar defence service, they get extra money from Myanmar army Medical department. They are supposed to go back to Myanmar after 2-3 years. Majority go back. But some did not.

One interesting thing is that there are 2 types of Myanmar passport, Red and Green. The red one is for general public and the green one is for government officials. The latter is also issued to Myanmar scholarship doctors. It is only 3 years valid and not renewable. That is problem for those who want to stay in Britain for more than that duration. Some have not achieved intended degree. Some have achieved, but do not want to go back for some reasons (main reasons are a high salary and a better life style in Britain). Pay for a junior doctor is from about £25,000 to £34,000 annum. Around £40-50K for middle grade doctor and over £70K a year for consultant level doctors. According to my close friend, some doctors have a very good relationship with Myanmar passport authority. So they were able to change their green passport with normal red one which is renewable.

Ok, I'm just sharing what I know. For me, whoever they are, I like to see more and more Burmese doctors in west as Burmese community is still tiny. At the same time, I have a concern about care of patients in Burma. But I console myself with the though that there have been 3 medical schools with enough production in Burma.

Buddha Idol in my living room

I just decorated Buddha Idol like this as my sister brought it from Burma last week. Some people might think it's not so appropriate to place a Buddha Idol in the living room. For me, that's fine. I don't think my Buddha Idol will bother other people visiting my house.(if they're not happy, don't come anymore, no problem at all. In my house even my senior consultant physicains need to take off their shoes, not because of Burmese tradition, it's just for health reason) I am traditionally Buddhist, but not religious. I will create my life myself while following Buddha's some guide lines. I would say Buddha would be my teacher as well as my companion.

Think about Canada

You may be aware that Britain's high skill migrant programme is becoming tougher. Many of my friends's applications have been rejected despite their annual income is around £32,000 (over US$ 60.000). Sometime, I wonder why many people keep trying to get a stay in this tiny island while even British natives have been leaving for a better place. In fact, there has been a concern about British economy as manufacturing sector has plummeted and it is only depending on vulnerable service industries. 2 years previously, the UK has left behind China.

Health service is one of the disappointing areas. In Britain's national health service hospitals, everybody has to wait for 4 hours to see a doctor. (some hospitals might happily announce that they achieve 4 hour waiting target) It is a shame, I feel. In Burma, world's so called poorest country, people can see consultant doctors, who are fellow members of Britain's Royal Colleges in an half an hour when they need medical attention. A news paper revealed a couple of years ago an elderly people died in accident and emergency department while waiting for a doctor.

For many more reasons, I am thinking to leave Britain. I picked up 3 countries, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I don't like Australia without obvious reason though I love to visit maximum 2 weeks. New Zealand is a stranger to me.

I just choose Canada. I feel Canada is a fantastic place. I dont need to surrender my British citizenship. I can easily achieve their required scores for high skilled visa. Easy to get permenent resident and Canada citizenship as far as I understand.

If you have a Bachlor degree, if you have IELTS score 7 in each skill, if you have around £3000 in your bank account, you will most probably qualify for Canadian high skilled worker program.

If you are interested to settle in Canada, you can assess yourself here.

Skilled workers and professionals: Self-assessment test

For more info, here is an official site.

www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

Good luck.

Weird AOL

These days, for some reason I have to use AOL dial up. It's understandable that dial up connection is terribly slow. But what I don't understand is that sometime connection was lost. After that pop up windows appears repeatedly, asking me to restall AOL software. When I clicked the buttom, it led me to IE browser with blank page. You know what happened. I mean no point after losing of Internet connection to ask me to download and reinstall online AOL software.



That problem is not new. It has been going on for years. Maybe AOL has chosen wrong persons in its firm to make such a silly mistakes. I know human error is inevitable.But sometime I think if those IT persons got a job as airplane pilots or medical doctors, the area of cemeteries needs to be extended indefinitely.

In fact AOL is notorious for its very heavy front page with all sorts of rubbish adverts. For AOL broadband users, they can bypass that page. But Dial up users need to wait sometime up to 3 minutes to load its font page before getting its service.

Think twice before buying sick Microsoft Vista

I didn't intend to use new Windows Vista. But it's inevitable to explore it when I bought a new laptop which has got Vista Home Premium.

For me, Vista is nothing special.( I have no idea why Microsoft corp spent up to 5 years, using a great deal of people to develop this version. Basically, the product is worth much less than my one day wage and nobody are queuing to get it, Cf; Apple's iphone) Not so different from Windows XP in working process.

The thing is the softwares I have are only for XP version. I cannot install these on my laptop and I still need my XP deskstop. Moreover, I have Dell Axim X5 with Pocket PC 2002 which is working fine. Again, Vista's idiot Mobile Device Manager does not support it. I have no idea Microsoft is unfairly pushing people to buy unnecessary things by introducing its futile operating system. I suspect that must be micorsoft's dirty marketing technique.

Yesterday, I accidentally close it without logging off. Screen was black and nothing appeared even after restarting again and again. So I had to go safe mode and had to repair. I have no idea why Windows system is so vulnerable. Don't tell me I need to shut down properly. Sometime I have no time for such a rubbish computers with poor operation system. Why couldn't Microsoft invent a system like car engine? We can drive cars in 1-2 seconds after ignition. Why not computers? It has been wrong since opeartion systems were developed. The loading time to start and the time to turn off the system is taking too long as if the person with IQ 80 was trying to think what is next step after brushing teeth in the morning.

I suspect Vista configuration is weak and inefficient. As a result, its premium version needs memory at least 1GB Ram. Many knows that Microsoft is not so brilliant in terms of technology, but very clever in marketing. You may know the techno history. If IBM did not raise Bill Gate, a uni drop-out, there would not be Windows on earth.

I'm sure I am not alone who is criticising Vista. The following is from wikipedia.

Before the release of Windows Vista, expectations for the new operating system were high, fueled by both promises of new features, better security, and a better user interface, as well as the five year period since the release of Windows XP. Large numbers of businesses and consumers planned on upgrading to Vista. However, after its release, it was met with harsh criticism for low hardware support, high system requirements, relatively poor performance, and for not making big enough improvements since the release of XP. This prompted many users and businesses to hold off on upgrading to Vista and even caused some to replace Vista installations with XP. These results further led to low adoption levels of Windows Vista and generally poor public review, as reflected by its title from PC World as the biggest tech disappointment of 2007.

I would say I have to use Vista which has been pre-installed in my new laptop. Otherwise no point to buy. Don't worry about not using Vista. nothing special. You will not be left behind. You may need to think twice to use even if you get Vista as a x-mas present. Main reason are that your existing software is not working with poor Vista and you may need to upgrade your computer memory. In fact, Microsoft should enclose fee for memory upgrade and compensation for existing softwares not compatible with new version in its Vista package. That is what I believe. Do you think Vista sale will soar in next 12 months?

In fact I am not alone who saw Microsoft vista is suck. Read this article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6407419.stm)on BBC page.

When I googled news with key word "vista" this is the first link what I found out.

Vista Ultimate Extras: Ultimately Disappointing

X-mas Hot pot

Well, this is x-mas day. just preaparing Hot Pot.