Aussies have been shocked at how little a doctor gets paid despite pulling long shifts at a hospital.
The Melbourne-based emergency department doctor told Getahead she currently earns $40 per hour.
‘I make just enough to support myself,’ she said in a TikTok.
The doctor revealed she had spent seven years at university and her pay ‘goes up as you get more experience’.
Social media users were still taken aback at how low her pay is now.
‘System is MESSED. Pay our medical professionals more,’ one person wrote.
Another wrote that their mother gets $43 an hour to remove graffiti from train stations.
Another spoke for many in writing ‘I thought (doctors) make way more.’
Online commenters have been shocked at how little a doctor (pictured) gets paid in an Australian hospital
The doctor didn’t say how long she had been in her job, but she is most likely in her first year after completing her studies.
According to Queensland’s Health Department, a resident doctor in their second year after finishing university, is paid $45.46 per hour.
That can rise to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, depending on what area of medicine a doctor might pursue, but it comes after very high fees for all the years spent university.
The annual cost of a studying medicine in Australia varies from $10,000 to $40,000 per year for a domestic student, depending on where a person studies and whether it is an undergraduate degree or postgraduate specialisation.
International students can pay up to $80,000 per year to study medicine in Australia.
One major advantage a medical degree has over other qualifications, though, is its employment prospects.
‘I make just enough to support myself,’ she said, after spending seven years in university to get to where she is
‘It’s almost guaranteed’ that you get a job as soon as you qualify, the Melbourne doctor said.
But she warned that people should go into medicine as a career ‘only if you really like it. Don’t start medicine just because you want to chase money.’
She said working in the ED means spending 40 hours a week doing shifts early mornings, late at night and on weekends.
‘It’s taking a toll on my social life, because you don’t really get the weekends off,’ the doctor said.
Despite not earning a huge salary now, she can look forward to earning more in the future, especially if she specialises.
The highest-paid areas of medicine in Australia include neurosurgeons, who earn from $300,000 to $800,000 per year, cardiothoracic surgeons – $300,000 to $700,000, orthopaedic surgeons – $250,000 to $650,000, and plastic and reconstructive surgeons, $200,000 to $600,000.
The young doctor’s starting pay is noticeably smaller in comparison to some tradies with traffic controllers making more than $100,000-a-year.
