Why does a doctor in the USA earn 20 times more than in Russia?
Salaries for doctors in any country vary depending on their specialization and location. But if we take average indicators, then the American salary of doctors exceeds the Russian one by more than 20 times. And today I will tell you why this happens. Let's start with the fact that the top 10 highest-paid professions in Russia are mostly IT specialists, while in the USA they are mostly doctors.
In Russia, the average salary of doctors is 95K rubles. It looks like a fairy tale, but this refers to the average salary figure for doctors of all specialties from all regions of the country. At today's exchange rate (73 rubles) 95K rubles = $1288. In the US, doctors earn an average of $313K per year, or $26K per month.
The fact is, in America there is no free public health care. All medical bills are paid by the patient personally or covered by the insurance company. But before getting a job in a clinic, a doctor studies for about 8 years, and most often his training costs a huge amount.
Research shows that in the United States, the average cost of medical school tuition at public universities is $250K, and at private institutions it is $330K. Of course, few people can afford such training, so those who want to become a doctor take out a government loan for a period of 10 to 20 years. Absolutely any American can take it, which is why prices at universities for education are extremely inflated, which means that doctors’ services are also expensive.
In this post, my dentist Anna talked about her salary in a small private clinic. She came from Lithuania, worked as a dentist there, started studying in the USA in 2018, studied for a couple of years and is still paying off the loan for her studies, starting at $1500 a month.
It is possible to come to the USA to work as a doctor, already having an education. It is not easy and not cheap, but it is quite possible. You will need to retrain and obtain qualifications, but all your efforts will quickly pay off.
Author: Anton Nayanzin
