United States physicians are among the highest-paid doctors in the world.
So why do so many leave?
If salary were the only thing that mattered, very few doctors would move abroad.
And yet every year, physicians pack up their lives and head to Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, Portugal, and beyond.
Often for less money.
Which raises the question: What exactly are they getting in return?
Because most physicians are not making these decisions casually. There are loans, families, retirement, kids’ education, mortgages, aging parents, and real financial responsibilities to think about.
So yes, salary matters. But salary is also not the whole story.
In this episode, we talk about the salary question that comes up constantly when U.S.-trained physicians start thinking about practicing medicine abroad.
We look at why comparing a U.S. physician salary to a salary abroad is rarely apples to apples, and why the more useful question is often not just “How much will I make?”
It’s:
“What kind of life does that salary actually support?”
Watch the episode below.
Because while a spreadsheet can compare salaries, it’s much harder to compare lives.
It’s hard to assign a dollar value to:
• feeling like a physician instead of a billing machine
• spending 30 minutes with patients instead of 10
• making it home for dinner with the kids
• taking a real vacation without your practice falling apart
• finishing clinic and heading to the beach instead of catching up on charts
In this episode, you’ll hear:
✅ Why physician salaries are often lower outside the U.S.
✅ Why salary comparisons are rarely apples to apples
✅ What physicians may gain in return for a lower salary
✅ How benefits, lifestyle, vacation, pensions, and cost of living can change the equation
✅ The bigger question to ask before deciding whether moving abroad is “worth it”
Now I’d love to hear from you.
If someone offered you a lower salary, but a better lifestyle…would you take it?
Let me know in the comments below.
Thinking about practicing medicine abroad?
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Rooting for you,
