Any physicians here?

amother

Firebrick

Tue, Nov 15 2016, 3:13 am

amother wrote:

What kind of salary can a US trained doctor expect in Israel?
First job out of residency.

Im not sure but I dont think where you were trained, america as opposed to Israel, makes a difference in starting salary. I could be wrong, but I dont see why it would make a difference.

israeliMD

Wed, Nov 16 2016, 11:46 am

I'm US trained in a pediatric subspecialty. My husband is a physician as well in an adult specialty. We both did residency and fellowship in the US. We each make around 30k shekels (plus or minus about 5k shekels depending on overtime) per month. For reference, in my specialty in the US I started at $230k with excellent benefits (much better than here). My husband had a starting salary of $260k. We are 5 years out of fellowship at this point. I would say considering benefits I make about 1/3-1/4 here as I would in the US. Note, nefesh b'nefesh has a lot of financial incentives for physicians to make aliyah. Also, a lot of physicians work a few weeks a year in the US.

Happy to answer any other questions you have! We are happy to be here but will probably return to the US within the next 5 years, partly for financial reasons and partly due to aging parents.

israeliMD

Wed, Nov 16 2016, 1:56 pm

amother wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Do you work for a kupat cholim, hospital, privately, or something else?

I work for a hospital owned by a kupat cholim. I also do some hours at a private urgent care facility. Most specialists seem to work for a kupat cholim and then also do some private hours in order to make more.

Teomima

Thu, Nov 17 2016, 3:54 am

I can't help you with the initial question, but just in light of what israeliMD said, you really need to go into it (ANY profession in Israel) not comparing your income to an American income. 30k nis is a HUGE monthly income by Israeli standards (according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, current average monthly income stands at 9,904nis). You may not be able to afford the same standard of living as you would in the States, but that's the trade-off for living in Israel. But if you live like an Israeli in Israel, that is indeed a VERY handsome salary.

israeliMD

Thu, Nov 17 2016, 4:48 pm

amother wrote:

Are you expected to make the same amount of money forever, or is there growth built into the system? Did you start out making this much?

Is Terem considered to be private?

There is some growth but not much unless you have interest in an administrative role. The high up administrators in the kupat cholim make a lot. I have no interest in that so my salary will never increase significantly.

I consider Terem private but I don't know what it is actually defined as. They are a non kupat cholim owned urgent care but depending on the time of day and your kupa you can go there for a low cost (around 60 shekels with clalit in our area). Salary and employment wise it is considered separate than being employed by a hospital or health fund.

israeliMD

Thu, Nov 17 2016, 4:53 pm

Teomima wrote:

True. But the US trained physicians still often have US federal loans to pay back. Between my husband and I we had over 450k in medical school loans. It is difficult to make much headway on loans with an Israeli physician salary. So that is a big consideration depending on how recently a physician graduated. Without the loan payments we could live very well here. But with the loan payments and the fact we need 2 cars due to work hours it is more difficult than most would think. We are doing fine though and live pretty simply. Housing and education costs are lower, healthcare and transportation costs are higher.

shabbatiscoming

Thu, Nov 17 2016, 4:59 pm

israeliMD wrote:

higher here than where?

israeliMD

Fri, Nov 18 2016, 6:47 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

higher here than where?

Good point! We moved from Brooklyn. Housing here is way cheaper and nicer. However, the cost of cars (we need 2 due to our work hours and limited public transportation options) is very high. I have a chronic medical condition and what is considering the standard of care in the US is only covered during pregnancy and pre pregnancy for adults in Israel. We pay out of pocket for more in healthcare costs in Israel. But the average person would probably come out ahead in terms of healthcare costs in Israel. Our situation is a bit unique in that our health insurance in the US was incredible. That said, we have the basic plan with our kupat cholim and the more expensive options may have been a better choice for us but at this point we would have a 6 month waiting period if we signed up.

MyUsername

Fri, Nov 18 2016, 9:00 am

israeliMD wrote:

I have a chronic medical condition and what is considering the standard of care in the US is only covered during pregnancy and pre pregnancy for adults in Israel. We pay out of pocket for more in healthcare costs in Israel. But the average person would probably come out ahead in terms of healthcare costs in Israel. Our situation is a bit unique in that our health insurance in the US was incredible. That said, we have the basic plan with our kupat cholim and the more expensive options may have been a better choice for us but at this point we would have a 6 month waiting period if we signed up.

It's never too late to sign up for the extra coverage. I also have a chronic medical problem and even with the 6 month wait and even if you return to the US in a few years, it will save you a tremendous amount. I pay for so few things here. The only exception is medication, which you'll always have to pay for part of. But there are additional discounts for certain meds. I rarely pay more than a token amount for specialists, procedures, or treatments.

israeliMD

Sun, Nov 20 2016, 12:50 pm

MyUsername wrote:

Thank you. I will look into it. We are with Clalit because they have the largest presence in our area. We tried to sign up for the platinum plan right after aliyah to avoid the waiting period but had a lot of issues dealing with Clalit so it never happened.