USA vs UK the better deal?

[Rajshah]

Here is an interesting question.
Do you believe that US doctors earn more than doctors in the United Kingdom considering US tax and malpractice insurance.
I think UK doctors earn far more than US doctors as they have low medical defense costs to pay.
thanks for input

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[asdasd12345]

your wrong, US doctors earn much more than UK doctors.

 

[DrIng]

I Don't know the answer to this question but I do know it's a bit more complicated than a simple you're right or wrong.
The avergae PG2 would be earning probably around 30,000 pounds or so compared with maybe US$40,000 so it depends on the exchange and things like that. But it also varies with cost of living which will vary i.e. a small US city is going to cost a lot less to live in than London. And of course there's other things, like not having to directly pay health insurance in the UK, and the fact that once you're a consultant attending you get paid in the UK largely by the government rather than by insurance companies ala the US. So it's complicated and I guess the lifestyle things come into it as well.

 

[Miklos]

Here is an interesting question.
Do you believe that US doctors earn more than doctors in the United Kingdom considering US tax and malpractice insurance.
I think UK doctors earn far more than US doctors as they have low medical defense costs to pay.
thanks for input

IMO, here is what you have to consider (in a very broad way).

-A UK consultant gets paid around 80,000 pounds a year by the NHS.
-This is after 7 or 8+ years of postgraduate training.
-UK taxes are significantly higher than US taxes.
-The cost of living is higher in the UK than in the US.
-UK doctors work (on the average) fewer hours than US doctors.
-US specialists earn more pre (and especially post tax) on the average.
-US postgraduate training is significantly shorter.
-Malpractice insurance does cost a very significant amount of money in the US.
-Due to the fragmented insurance market in the US, overhead is higher.

 

[DrIng]

taken from http://www.workgateways.com/job-medical.html#docpay

Pay rates for doctors vary according to experience, grade and speciality however as an example: an SHO working 56 hrs a week would earn approx 850 to 950 pounds per week.
SHO = Senior House Officer = PGY2

 

[Miklos]

taken from http://www.workgateways.com/job-medical.html#docpay

Pay rates for doctors vary according to experience, grade and speciality however as an example: an SHO working 56 hrs a week would earn approx 850 to 950 pounds per week.
SHO = Senior House Officer = PGY2

Ok. However, a consultant tops out at about 80,000 pounds pre-tax, as they (and the other grades) have contract which is negotiated nationwide with the NHS.

 

[Goober]

Here is an interesting question.
Do you believe that US doctors earn more than doctors in the United Kingdom considering US tax and malpractice insurance.
I think UK doctors earn far more than US doctors as they have low medical defense costs to pay.
thanks for input

US taxes are much lower than UK taxes. The top tax bracket is 38%. But nobody actually pays even that amount. There are all kinds of deductions you can make to lower your rate to about 20-25%

US malpractice is is highly specialty dependent and state dependent. There are some specialties that pay as little as $5,000/yr and others that pay over $100,000. But in the US as an attending physician you can easily expect to make $250-300,000 in specialties and $100-150,000 in primary care (those figures are after expenses including malpractice). There are people who make much more than this of course as well.

 

[leorl]

In general what I've heard is that interns/residents (JHO,SHO) earn more than their US counterparts. But US specialists earn more than UK consultants. Very generally.

 

[maminr]

I am here in the UK at the moment and have been in touch with my frends in US. Here is what I think:

During the residency training the income is more or less the same in Uk and US, considering different factors like taxes, cost of living etc. On average a UK resident as a 1st year SHO (PGY-1) earns ?30,000 and the tax is on average about 28-30%. While I guess in US on average the 1st year resident would earn around $40,000...minus the tax?

Yes, the training is very long in UK than in US and its very much structured in USA than in UK.

But once you become consultant the salary' shoots up very steeply in US than in UK. On average a IM physician would earn $120,000 during 1st few years and in UK a new consultant would earn ?52,000 and tax would be somewhat more than 30% in UK but I dont know about taxes in USA.

Yes in UK you dont have to pay for your insurance in NHS but you do pay some amount for nsurance if you are involved in private practice which is very minimal in UK.

Here in UK the pay is more or less the same for all kinds of consultants in NHS surgeon, medics, psychiatrist. It increaes by increments every year reaching maximum after almost 10 years or so.

Training I would say is very streamline in US than in US.

 

[IlianaSedai]

One thing I've thought about, too, is that although the salary in the UK doesn't shoot up as steeply in the UK as it does in the US, there is LESS in the UK that requires such a high salary. Namely:

1) US educational loans, which you have to pay off.

2) Saving for US college tuition (for kids).

That cuts out a significant amount of money that the US salary helps to cover.

 

[Miklos]

One thing I've thought about, too, is that although the salary in the UK doesn't shoot up as steeply in the UK as it does in the US, there is LESS in the UK that requires such a high salary. Namely:

1) US educational loans, which you have to pay off.

2) Saving for US college tuition (for kids).

That cuts out a significant amount of money that the US salary helps to cover.

Indeed. But, this is changing as well as Britian is coming to realize that unless it starts investing into its universities it will continue to fall behind. Hence, the law recently adopted that allows British universities to charge limited tuition.