WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A DOCTOR IN THE US?
Many of you texted me asking about life and the job of being a doctor in the US. So, today I will “lift the curtain” to share more about Medical profession in America.
I. Where do doctors in the US work?
In the US, doctors can open their own clinics or work for large medical organizations.
Currently, the trend is for large medical organizations to buy small clinics, and quite a number of doctors go in this direction, because working for a large system, doctors only need to focus on their expertise and do not need to worry much about the operation, management, or finances of the clinic.
Medical organizations have universities. State public schools (with state funding), branches of the U.S. military (Navy, Air Force, etc.), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Veterans Affairs), for-profit organizations, and non-profit medical organizations (Kaiser, CommonSpirit, Mayo Clinic, etc.).
Most medical organizations have connections with universities to support medical and internal medicine training programs. Medical Residency.
Among hospitals in the US, 58% are non-profit organizations, 21% are government-owned, and 21% are for-profit organizations.
Currently I am working for CommonSpirit Health. This is one of the leading non-profit medical organizations in the US, with more than 1,000 patient care locations across 21 states in the US, serving more than 2 million patients in the US each year.
II. What are the working hours of doctors in the US?
Each medical specialty and organization will have different working schedules.
There are 3 main directions:
- Only work in clinics
- Only work in hospitals
- Or combine work in clinics and hospitals.
The duty schedule depends on the specialty.
Currently, I work as a family doctor and only work in clinics, so the hours are fixed. Every week I work 4 and a half days, examining patients and doing paperwork and medical records about 12 hours/day. My clinic has a rotating schedule, about every 6 weeks, and is only on call at home.
Some of my friends are Hospitalists (specializing in hospital duty), working 12 hours/day, working 7 consecutive days, then taking 7 consecutive days off. There are also doctors who work in clinics during the day, and at night when a patient is admitted to the hospital, they run in on duty.
In general, doctors have many job options to suit their desired lifestyle. I have small children, so I like to work in a clinic, with fixed hours and not work on weekends.
Recently, there have been more opportunities to work online (telemedicine), so doctors have more and more choices and freedom in how they work.
After completing the medical residency training program in the US, doctors will take an exam specific to their specialty called the Board Certification Exam.
This degree is understood as a certificate of a doctor’s qualifications for a certain department. Like the Family Medicine specialty, you need to retake the exam every 10 years.
In addition to Board Certification, doctors need a practicing certificate (license) in the state where they live. This medical practice certificate is not an exam.
Doctors only need to file and pay fees to the state medical practice certification board. As long as the practice record is clean and trouble-free, everything will be approved.
Every 3 years, the application will be made and the fee paid again.
After completing residency training, having Board Certification, and Medical License , the doctor can freely find a job.
IV. How do doctors find jobs?
Doctors can register directly with the medical organization they want to work for, or register with an intermediary system that helps connect doctors who need jobs and medical organizations that need doctors such as career.com, indeed.com, practicematch.com.
Most doctors in the US don’t worry about not having a job.
I remember when I applied for a job and then continuously received phone calls, text messages, Constant emails from employers inviting interviews. And this doesn’t just happen to me, but to my friends too!
Because the demand for recruiting doctors in the US is very high.
Then when it comes to the interview, the recruitment side will cover all travel, hotel, and food expenses for the doctor during the interview. I still remember when I arrived at the hotel, I also received a “welcome” gift.
Once, I went for an interview on the occasion of the couple’s wedding anniversary. I happily shared with the recruitment representative, Itwas I also received a cake and card at the hotel to congratulate the wedding anniversary.
V. What is the salary of doctors in the US?
The salary of a doctor in the US depends onthe department,the location of work (city or countryside), working in a private clinic or for a medical organization, working for the military or other organizations.
According to statistics fromMedscape 2021, the average salary of a doctor is from 221 thousand $/year (Children), 236 thousand dollars/year (Family) to 526 thousand dollars/year (Plastic surgery).
In addition, you will also enjoy benefits such as vacation days (vacation), postpartum leave (maternity/paternity leave), health insurance (health insurance), insurance Disability insurance, life insurance, retirement plan.
In short, being a doctor in the US may not make you rich, but it can certainly give you a stable, stable, and prosperous life.
If you love medicine and want to be a doctor in the US, then I hope that this article has helped you understand more about the medical profession in the US and motivated you.
Please comment “yes” if this article is useful to you.
Dr. Christina Nguyen
~ The Phoenix Medical Academy
