Shocked Aussies have been left gobsmacked after a trainee brain surgeon revealed his annual wage, with many saying it was far too low given his responsibilities.
The young doctor appeared in a social media video clip to reveal his base salary was $104,000, before overtime, after doing his training in the UK.
Before he started working in Royal Brisbane Hospital’s neurosurgical department, his undergraduate degree took five years, he told the jobs app Getahead.
That was followed by a Master’s degree and two years of training before he moved to to work as a doctor.
‘It is hard work, I won’t lie, but it is pretty rewarding. There’s so many avenues you can go down,’ he said.
The doctor admitted he is currently working 12-hour shifts, Monday to Friday,but said the that long-term pay progression was good.
But many viewers couldn’t believe his wage after the clip was posted on TikTok, with many claiming the figure was too low, even if he was just starting out.
‘That is so low? I’m a teacher on $120,000 and struggling hence why I do extra jobs in the evening,’ one posted.
‘$104,000? That’s criminal. Should be double at least,’ added another. ‘There is no way it is that,’ said someone else, while another called the salary ‘crazy low’.
According SEEK, the average salary for a doctor in ranged from $90,000 to $110,000. Once a doctors got into a specialist field however they earned more.
General practitioners, on average, earn between $215,000 and $235,000 a year.
According to Medrecruit, a company that helps match people in the medical profession with jobs, a surgeon in can expect to earn more than $300,000.
Despite some people commenting on how low his salary was, the doctor said he didn’t regret his decision to get into medicine and gave the following advice to other potential doctors.
‘Use other people, they’re there to help you as you’re there to help them,’ he said.
‘Coming over from the UK, it’s been a big learning curve and has been more difficult than I thought it would be, but the Royal is a nice hospital.
‘It’s got good facilities, great teams and everyone’s been super friendly, so it’s been good.’
The young doctor said one of the hardest things about the profession was managing his time and caring for himself.
One TikTok user thought he was getting a raw deal.
‘Does he really deserve that after 10 years of intense university?’ they asked.