11 - 7 Lessons We’ve Learned From Physicians Moving Abroad

Lesson number one, most physicians don't move abroad because they actually want to quit medicine and do something else.

They move abroad because they want to reconnect with why they went into medicine in the first place.

Ashwini, do you remember what it was like when we decided to move? I don't know about you, but I remember you feeling a little bit burnt out from the short visits, prior authorizations.

A lot of physicians in the group talk about intrusion from private equity.

And really, the idea of moving abroad isn't to leave medicine.

It's to leave this broken system that burns people out.

What it is that we hear from a lot of physicians is not like, I hate medicine.

It's, I want to go back to why I practice medicine in the first place.

I want medicine to be part of my life, not all of it.

And that's what practicing in different medical systems provides.

More time, work-life balance, flexibility, a different pace, a lot less uncompensated call.

A vast majority, I'd say, of physicians in our community continue to practice when they leave.

It's not a matter of like transitioning to another career.

That's right.

I mean, what I've heard from the physicians that I've talked to is that they're wanting a more sustainable and balanced life.

Like they have a vision of what they're running towards, not just what they're running away from.

And in general, most people are not running away from medicine.

They just want to practice medicine in a way that feels humane and sustainable for themselves and for the patients that they're helping.

So the second lesson that I've learned is that Most people don't actually regret moving abroad so much as they fear they will regret moving.

So when people are thinking about moving abroad, I think, I mean, I did this too.

I came up with a list of like a hundred reasons why I should move abroad.

And it was like everything that could possibly go wrong, everything from... not being able to get licensed, not being able to learn the language if you're moving to a non-English speaking country, worrying about your kids.

Are they going to adapt to the schools? What about finances? I'm probably not going to make the same salary as I did in the U.S.

And there's just a lot of uncertainty.

Like you can just think of hundreds of things that could go wrong in that move.