Foreign Orthopedic Surgeon

[Doctor2Become]

My Uncle is from Czechoslovakia (Currently the Czech Republic) and has been living in the US for about 18 years now. He is an orthopedic surgeon that used to be the main orthopedic surgeon in his hospital there and had two clinics. He has passed the USMLE the first time and applied to many residencies with no luck. After 3 years of trying, He gave up and now works from morning till night on a salary of well between $30,000-$40,000 yearly. I just feel so sorry for him because he sacrificed his high payment in the Czech Republic for his children's education in America, and I think he's living miserable working 12+ hours a day on low pay for a person of such high education. He would tell me how he would work easily about 6 hours a day (5 days a week) in Czechoslovakia and recieve well over quadruple his salary today. Any options for him? He is like my close friend because and I want the best for him. Thanks.

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[shopsteward]

Your uncle is on an average salary for the USA, which is reasonable for someone with no useable qualifications (which is what he has) and he has presumably succeeded in his main aim of giving his children a US education. His life is not so bad, if he doesn't want it to be (it's very common for immigrants to work at lower status jobs to give their children a better chance in life, and there's nothing wrong with someone making that choice).

If he's been in the USA for 18 years, presumably his children are at the stage where they are just about out on their own? In which case, his best bet for re-entering medicine might be to move back to the Czech Republic. Also, since he left, a Czech citizen has gained the right to live and work anywhere in the 28 member States of the EU. If he is unhappy in the USA and doesn't want to go back to the Czech Republic, he has a lot of options.

It is possible your uncle is just using you as a safe space to vent his frustrations, but is essentially happy with the choices he has made. It is also possible that he is either clinically depressed or just a congenital miseryguts. Whichever it is, your best role is to listen sympathetically and nothing else.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I worked with a former orthopedic surgeon from Belarus yesterday. He now works as a surgical assistant and while I don't know his salary, most of the assists tell me they do pretty well. This may be another option for your uncle as it is exceedingly unlikely that he will get into orthopedic surgery training here in the US.

 

[chocomorsel]

WTF is so special about a US education anyway? Plenty of good education outside of the US so why did he see the need to give up his good paying, respectable job in order to get his kids an American education and slave away for almost minimum wage? Why doesn't he just go back to the Czchec republic now? It's a safe, civilized, industrialized country where most people aren't living in poverty and are actually doing well (as are many eastern European countries post USSR fall in the 90's). I certainly would go back. Most likely, I would never have left.
I never understood why Europeans from stable democracies relocate to the US anyway unless it's marriage or a job transfer.

 

[Kahreek]

WTF is so special about a US education anyway? Plenty of good education outside of the US so why did he see the need to give up his good paying, respectable job in order to get his kids an American education and slave away for almost minimum wage? Why doesn't he just go back to the Czchec republic now? It's a safe, civilized, industrialized country where most people aren't living in poverty and are actually doing well (as are many eastern European countries post USSR fall in the 90's). I certainly would go back. Most likely, I would never have left.
I never understood why Europeans from stable democracies relocate to the US anyway unless it's marriage or a job transfer.

Czechoslovakia was far from being a stable place in the 80's and 90's.
Even now i dont know if he would make much more than 40k as a Orthopaedic surgeon over there. Of course that is no objection, if he really wants to do it again.
And i really doubt he sacrified high payment back then, i know doctors from old ussr that barely gained enough money to feed the family through the 80's and 90's, and thus moved to practice in places that could be as well qualified as 3rd world.

 

[chocomorsel]

Czechoslovakia was far from being a stable place in the 80's and 90's.
Even now i dont know if he would make much more than 40k as a Orthopaedic surgeon over there. Of course that is no objection, if he really wants to do it again.
And i really doubt he sacrified high payment back then, i know doctors from old ussr that barely gained enough money to feed the family through the 80's and 90's, and thus moved to practice in places that could be as well qualified as 3rd world.

Well quadruple 30k and what do you get? Just responding to the OPs post based on the info he or she gave.

 

[Kahreek]

Well quadruple 30k and what do you get? Just responding to the OPs post based on the info he or she gave.

different currency, inflation, different cost of goods. In ussr shortage of first necessity products was real. It is very difficult to acess the real monetary value based on exchange rate alone. You have money but you cant buy a car other than a Lada, you have money but cant buy anything for lunch but potatoes and smoked salmon, god forbid imported fruits or vegetables.
And as state expenditure with health decreased exponentially, so did medical jobs and reimbursement . He maybe lost a stable gig.
He had to move for his children to have good education in USA, that is symptomatic that probably nothing was working well in the country, the education system, the health system, etc ,etc.

 

[chartero]

Orthopaedic surgeons have their own affiliated midlevel called Orthopaedic Assistant (OA, OA-C). The original occupational title was Orthopaedic Physician's Assistant (OPA, OPA-C), but this was confusing because this is a separate profession from that of Physician Assistant. You can read more about the specifically orthopaedic physician-extender profession from the American Society of Orthopaedic Assistants.

 

[chocomorsel]

Interesting points kahreek. I dont know much about communism I admit. However, in todays world things are better in many of those countries since the fall of ussr, no?
So he could return get to do what he used to do and at least make triple what he makes here at least according to the OP. According to you, maybe what he makes here. Or not but he would be doing surgery again. I think it is worth exploring.

 

[rokshana]

Interesting points kahreek. I dont know much about communism I admit. However, in todays world things are better in many of those countries since the fall of ussr, no?
So he could return get to do what he used to do and at least make triple what he makes here at least according to the OP. According to you, maybe what he makes here. Or not but he would be doing surgery again. I think it is worth exploring.

does he? its been 18 years since he did any surgery…does he still have a skill set?

I would think it would be hard to move back to another country after living in another country for so long….maybe things have changed for the better, but they have changed…unless he has been going back and forth it will be different form him.

 

[chocomorsel]

He can find a group that could possibly take him under apprenticeship and help him get back on the wagon. Or do a mini residency possibly. I would think it would be easier to get back into it, there vs. here in the U.S where who the heck is gonna even give him an interview after such an absence?

Also, as a foreigner, I go back frequently. And I moved here in my preteens, been here over 20 years So do most foreigners I know, especially if they came here as adults. They tend not to just move to another country and forget their roots and their families as most still have lots of families back in their homeland. The ones who tend to never go back are the ones who are seeking refugee status, and come here really young. So yeah, I could move back as some of my colleagues have after living here for more than 10 years. It's certainly different, but after a while it becomes normal again.