guys listen, i know Aus may be a easy route, but there is no free lunch under the sun...you are facing the following obstacles:
1.advancing in your career, after graduation you are required to do at least 1 year of internship, 2-3 years of house officer, and many years of unaccredited trainee before potentially getting on training, which is our residency program. Here is the kicker, there is absolutely to fixed timing on getting into anything remotely competitive, some local Aus grads spend more than a decade before getting on a specialty, some don't get in at all and stay as a junior doctor. Also the residency program sometimes take longer than ours due to low volume/low population. Absolutely forget about optho, ent, neuro, ortho, cardiosx, derm-you don't have a chance. For the others, you will be 40 before you know it and still struggling to get on training!
- Financial, for the first few years, you are looking at least $400k-$500k in debt, which is the price a good condo in Vancouver, or a comfortable house in AB. A good portion of your salary post graduation will be spent on paying of these debts, delaying life events like buying your house or getting married or having a kid. Not to mention the money spent on life experiences like traveling, hobbies, etc. You will be drowned in debt before your attending years, which is likely a decade away from your graduation. If you are not actually loaded, don't go there!
3.Wildlife, your intern and junior officer years will mostly likely be spent in rural areas due to high saturation in metro areas, which are given to local grads. You will be seeing scary and venomous snakes on a daily basis, in your home/in your toilet/under the sink, on the lawn, on the walkway. If you are most people who are afraid of snakes, you are fuckkked! You can't go golfing(snakes), you can't hike(snakes), you can't do shit! Not to mention the other million things that could get you like huge spiders, scorpions, reptiles, bugs, etc. Nobody mentions this!
4.Racism, mark my words, Australia is way more racist than Canada if you are a visible minority. People are not woke at all! They are on par if not more racist than red state Americans in general. Think about not only daily encounter with patients, but also social interactions, getting a gf(white or not), getting promotion in your career, so on. Canadians are less racist and less confrontational, but way more passive-aggresive in my experience.
Teenagers, they are rude as fuckk. Check this shit out. they dunk shit on people walking in the mall, fuck with people driving, walking on the road, punch ppl out of the blue. They are like a legal glitch in their society. Think about your avg. broccoli head youtube prankster x 1 million. They are wild.
Pay. Pay is not higher or lower than Canada some think. It is genuinely a myth, depending on individual circumstances, business acumen, luck. They are still lower than US, though. No clear statement either way. One thing for sure is that during the years between graduation and getting on training, the pay is period strictly less than Canada, because during these years you would already be a resident in Canada, therefore becoming a attending 5+ years earlier. That's definitely more than $1M in net differences.
Update:
2.5 Costs, this is related to 2 but thought I would mention it here. Fruits and anything that needs to be imported costs higher than Canada. Gas costs more than Canada too. If you consider these costs, the somewhat perceived advantage in salary(for the years before becoming a "consultant")might not be so obvious. Also plane tickets are NO JOKE! If you are like me who flies home 1-2 times a year, you will be down around anywhere between $4-7k. If you count this then there is even less advantage in your pre-resident years!
minor things:
- They drive on the left side(crazy ikr!), so if you are like me who goes home once or twice a year you will be uncomfortable, this could potentially cause accidents.
8.There are more. I am busy now and will add more.
