NEWS 3
ausdoc . com . au 8 NOVEMBER 2024
NEWS 3
Is this a doctor tax ? What it costs to stay in business
Professor Steve Robson says the rego fee is ‘ extortionate ’.
AAP
What doctors pay each year to remain in practice
20 %
Paul Smith and Antony Scholefield THIS year , the fee for medical registration reached four figures for most doctors — some $ 1027 .
This was not just symbolic , according to then – AMA president Professor Steve Robson . For him , it was “ extortionate ”.
He referred to the money demands that go with it : the indemnity premiums , the cost of mandatory CPD and the various fees linked with college memberships .
So AusDoc ran a survey to find out what sort of cash we were talking about . Some 660 doctors took part , with the majority ( 327 ) GPs .
Generalisations are difficult given the medical profession ’ s diversity , but we felt that showing the cost distribution would give a good overview of the issue .
The costs we asked about covered the following :
• Medical registration fees
• Indemnity premiums
• Cost of college memberships and / or cost of CPD home memberships
• Cost of CPD activities . We asked readers to exclude college memberships or CPD home memberships . We also asked them to exclude lost earnings resulting from the Medical Board of Australia ’ s time requirement that they do a minimum of 50 hours a year .
• Cost of medical societies or union fees — namely , the AMA , Australian Salaried Medical Officers ’ Federation , etc More than half of those who took part in the survey are paying between $ 10,000 and $ 25,000 a year to remain in business ( see graph ).
YOUR COMMENTS
The overall median cost is $ 15,320 .
When it comes to GPs alone , the median average cost is $ 13,400 a year .
In the next graph , you can see the range of costs for completing CPD activities .
To stress , the numbers do not include fees for medical colleges / CPD homes or the resulting lost income .
The median overall cost for part-timers ( n = 246 ) is $ 12,500 compared with a median cost of $ 18,200 for full-timers ( n = 407 ).
What about gender ? When you confine it to full-time doctors , the medians are $ 15,300 for female doctors and $ 19,800 for male doctors .
As some doctors have said in their responses , there is no acknowledgement of part-time doctors ( defined as working less than 35 hours a week ) when it comes to medical registration fees or the CPD demands .
One full-time GP said her costs
‘ The cost of maintaining my profession is ridiculous .’ were $ 12,666 a year , adding the important qualifier : “ I also pay for public liability insurance ($ 470 ), income protection ($ 11,755 ), and trauma insurance ($ 3206 ).
“ I stopped my AMA membership because , while it is important , it is not essential for me .
“ My CPD costs also include therapeutic guidelines subscription and membership with AMS and ASLM . “ The cost of maintaining my profession is ridiculous .”
10 %
0
<$ 5000
<$ 10,000
<$ 15,000
<$ 20,000
<$ 25,000
<$ 30,000
<$ 35,000
<$ 40,000
$ 40,000 +
Annual cost of CPD activities *
20 %
10 %
0
<$ 1000
<$ 2000
<$ 3000
<$ 4000
<$ 5000
<$ 6000
<$ 7000
<$ 8000
<$ 9000
<$ 10,000
$ 10,000 +
* Excludes lost earnings from time taken and CPD home membership fees
The costs I face to work as a doctor are …
Extortionate 29 %
Excessive 64 %
Reasonable 5 %
Cheap
Don ’ t know 2 %
Female GP , part-time ($ 12,130 ) Thank you for shining a light on this area ! I feel petty when I complain , but then I worked it out : I work for two months to pay off all these expenses before I start making anything for myself .
Female GP , part-time ($ 5900 ) I have a chronic illness that prevents me from working full-time , and yet there are no concessions available to me for the many things required to maintain my registration .
Whether you are earning $ 45,000 a year or $ 400,000 , the cost of being a doctor is largely fixed .
Female surgeon , full-time ($ 97,003 ) I am shocked after just adding up my figures .
Male surgeon , full-time ($ 112,550 ) We need to start a conversation around a no-fault system , like in New Zealand . Right now , the indemnity system is simply a trough for lawyers to gorge on . It is unsustainable .
Male anaesthetist , part-time ($ 23,880 ) While I think my current costs of doing business are fairly reasonable , if I wanted to cut back my working time in the run-up to full retirement , the cost of all these items against a much smaller income would probably make it not worthwhile .
Female GP , part-time ($ 7387 ) What peeves me most is the lack of a discount for being part-time , especially with AHPRA , which has no discount for my maternity leave .
Female registrar , part-time ($ 5540 plus $ 9980 exam fees ) In addition to exam fees , there are thousands in fees for various courses that the college requires you to complete as part of your training ; as well as exam preparation courses ( all a few thousand each , plus travel and accommodation ).
Female registrar , part-time ($ 17,770 plus $ 7500 exam fees ) I find it absolutely indefensible that , as junior doctors on low incomes , we are required to pay the equivalent registration fees as senior consultants .
My college fees are also excessive , and I question what we pay for , given that I am required to complete workshops outside of these fees that cost a significant amount of money , plus extra fees for exams .
It is incredibly expensive to become and practise as a doctor .