Doctors are increasingly looking to the ex-pat lifestyle options as a way to escape the drudgery of work-life at home or to try a new career route. Several countries offer exceptional benefits to doctors in terms of high take-home pay and beautiful, novel environments away from home.
Here are the top-rated international cities and countries for doctors interested in living and practicing medicine abroad.
Australia
Australia offers several enormously attractive features to doctors considering relocation from the United States. First, it pays doctors exceptionally well. Second, English is the national language. This can be an advantage for doctors who are uninterested in learning a new language, as may be required or at least helpful when moving to a non-native-English-speaking land. Last, it is a beautiful country that offers a relaxed atmosphere with a high standard of living as a Westernized, advanced economy.
Netherlands
Along with other countries in Europe, especially the Scandinavian region in the North, the Netherlands has a unique and universal healthcare system that is efficiently run. Doctors working within the Netherlands system can make approximately $120,000 per year as general practitioners. Specialists can take home around $250,000.
Bangkok
Bangkok may not top off the list of relocation opportunities for doctors in terms of pay. Doctors can expect to make significantly less in Bangkok than other destinations such as those in Europe. Nonetheless, Bangkok is a major international hub for all varieties of medical procedures due to its relatively low cost and high quality of care, as well as the opportunity to make a “vacation” out of medical work. Visitors to Thailand who come for medical procedure holidays are called “medical tourists,” and they deliver huge amounts of revenue to the Thai medical system, including many ex-pat doctors who operate there. Thailand is an exceptionally good destination for plastic surgeons due to the high volume of plastic surgery work.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE is founded and built on oil wealth – and they have a lot of it. This Arabian Peninsula economic powerhouse is often in need of foreign experts and professionals to supports its high quality of life, including doctors. Doctors working in the UAE can make salaries commensurate with those in Western nations or, depending on the patient clientele, much more.
The top destinations for doctors are mostly concentrated in Europe, but there are several other options around the rest of the globe for those who want to make the leap.
