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Acrobaticlama t1_j0ilrdy wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Hi! I’m Dr Lucy Maddox from Bath University (UK). I’m a clinical psychologist researching compassionate care and things that can get in the way. I have a new book out called A Year To Change Your Mind, about how psychology can help with everyday life by UniversityofBath

Okay everyone! u/VoidsIncision doesn’t buy it, wrap things up and get back to work! He knows someone and he’s clocked onto us and our lambos.

First off, if you want to compare salaries using the median would be more representative than the mean.

Secondly, the salaries are on the Agenda for Change salary guidance.

Band 5 nurses:

  • <2 years' experience £27,055
  • 2-4 years £29,180
  • 4+ years £32,934

Of course there are all sorts of fees that eat into that. For example having to pay to park at work. My hospital was £18/shift if you couldn’t get a staff pass to reduce it to about £8/shift, but they were always out of them anyways.

There are also exams, professional registrations, and other costs which chip away at that.

I’m a doctor (thankfully leaving medicine in a few weeks forever for a new non-medical job!) and last year i spent:

  • £1546 on mandatory exams
  • £433 for the GMC - mandatory annual fee
  • £453 for the GMC - mandatory certificate
  • £479 for the BMA
  • £850 on “optional but not really because if you dont them you’re behind everyone else” courses

total: £3760 just to keep working.

More expensive are things like the opportunity cost of not buying a house because I was thrown about the country every few months and the massive student loans.

but hey after 4 university degrees and a decade of training I broke £60k last year by like £200 so who am I to complain? It’s more than the median! Thankfully my non-medical job will pay well and my backup was moving to Canada which again pays more for less work so my complaints were ending either way. I wonder if I would’ve had your permission to complain when I worked Christmas covering ~200 patients for £12.something per hour. Or if that was okay because hey, more than the median.

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FireZeLazer t1_j0mopv0 wrote

Everyone looks at the pay and compares it to to average, but then completely ignore the fact that:

  • this is often after a decade of gaining experience

  • these also include some of the highest performing academically capable people

I'm privileged to be in a role with almost guaranteed progression to earning about £60k. But at the same time, I could earn most twice that if I'd gone into Data Science and worked for a private company. Or even just moved to Canada doing the same job!

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Historical-Mastodon9 t1_j0ofidw wrote

May I ask what you're planning to change careers to? Seems a shame to have gone through all that training only to do something else.

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Acrobaticlama t1_j0w5l4m wrote

Sure thing! I’ll be utilising the knowledge and skills I gained over the years, they haven’t gone to waste.

I’m switching to medical affairs for a pharmaceutical company. I also received offers for management consulting. Any UK medics reading this considering leaving, there are options! Feel free to message if you have questions.

If I had switched earlier I’d have been less burnt out and bitter about my experience and significantly better off financially by now. I never dreamt of one day leaving medicine and I generally try to live a life without regrets, but if I had to pick one it would be applying to medical school. Considering a significant portion of my medical friends have left or are thinking of leaving medicine, or have gone abroad, I think it’s a common sentiment.

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