ukr2blr;625277
About me/family:
About 40 years old. Came to the UK in 2002 and have been a consultant paediatrician the last 5 years in a reputed university hospital. Wife works as an IT project manager over the last 5-6 years. 4 year old daughter who has just started a good school.
Life in the UK
Professionally have done well. Completed my higher specialist training. Got a good academic fellowship and am currently in a clinical and academic role. Feel liked in present position. Wife is not an engineer and had to change her career but has over the last 5 years settled well in project management role in the healthcare set up.
Immigration Status: UK citizens in the process of OCI acquisition
Reasons to return to India:
I guess my reasons are not as different to many in the forum.
1) Personal: Sense of belonging to India. To provide a much wider experience to my daughter while she is still young.
2) Parents: I feel that my parents have made lot of sacrifices to ensure that we grow up comfortably. When I left for the UK at 25 years of age, my parents sent me with their provident fund ( retirement fund ). My parents came over in turns, helped us take care of our little one when we were busy with our jobs. Being close to them in their golden years is the best way we can repay them for the sacrifices they have made all their lives for us. I have no doubt that my kid will have a blast with her grand parents .Over the past decade I have noticed the slow morphing of these individuals to dependent individuals.
3) Would like to contribute back to the Indian society. Would like to join/set up an organisation where the cut back system is not followed/ limited to a minimum.
Challenges:
1) Can I build my practice in India given the state of affairs? I have been in contact with many corporate hospitals over a period of time (almost every 2 years) and their response has been apathetic to say the least. The best response that I have got this year has been after direct contact with the CEO’s. Although I do not have a concrete offer yet a couple of them look promising. Will be meeting people on my next visit to India. Getting a job is one thing establishing a practice is another.
2) Wife’s job: Career opportunities for my wife have grown over the last 3-4 years in the UK and she is due for another promotion soon. Not sure whether she would be able to get a comparable IT project manager job in India (she is not an engineer). This currently is an important limiting factor as there seems to be some positive response for my job but none so far for her.
3) Kid education: Currently has just started school in one of the good private schools in the city But I do not think she would have a difficulty in getting admission in a good school in Bangalore.
4) Finances: Have some in the saving pot. Have a house (parents) and 3 others (currently rented) in Bangalore. Given the next biggest expense is the kids education we both would need to be in well paid jobs for the next few years.
5) Work life balance: I am sure that my work life balance would be affected. Here able to have at least 3 of 4 weekends off. In Bangalore weekend off would be limited to Sundays only (perhaps 3 of 4). However will have a host of relatives and friends whenever I am free.
More challenges on the way…
Please feel free to comment, advise, counsel
TowardsHome;413803
About Me/family
Immigration Status: Permanent residents since 1.5 years
Reasons to contemplate returning to India :
Do I need a reason to go home ? Probably not. But given the uphill journey, I need to be clear in my mind about the motivating factors
1. Parents: I feel that my parents have made lot of sacrifices to ensure that we grow up comfortably. When I wanted to leave to United States at 28 years of age , my mother sent me with her entire provident fund ( retirement fund ).My parents came over in turns, helped us take care of our little one when we were busy with our residencies . Being close to them in their golden years is the best way we can repay them for the sacrifices they have made all their lives for us .I have no doubt that my kid will have a blast with both sets of her grand parents .Over the past decade I have noticed the slow morphing of these extremely resilient individuals to completely dependent individuals who would not like to leave us for a minute when we visit them once a year . I have never seen my patients cry through out the 35 years of my life . Now tears are regular occurrences at airport send offs
2. Sense of belonging: There is no doubt that life in United States has nothing been exceptional to me professionally. Met and worked with living legends in the field who reinforced the values of respect and professional dedication but personally, there has been a growing sense of emptiness inside. Lot of my friends have done very well adapting to life in United States. They have learnt to follow the NBA, Monday evening foot ball, go kayaking . I still hang on to cricinfo, TV 9 is my favorite ,R2I india blogs are a favoritie past time. Some times I wonder at the lengths I go to inorder to replicate a feeling of “India “ in my sorroundings.
Factors that make this journey challenging
1. Finances: Being in post graduate training for seven years ( working for 54 k a year ), we have little savings. This year we were able to save upto around 80k . Do not know what a comfortable cushion is that can smoothen the initial bumps we expect
More challenges to be contd..
Please feel free to comment, criticize, advise , counsel or remove if found useless
The above two posts look very similar . You guys brothers ? Just kidding.
Jokes aside, this is a serious dilemma .Medical practice in India is a difficult and different beast. You will listen to perspectives and counter perspectives .Take all of them into account. At the end, remember - every one has a unique set of circumstances personally and professionally that might have led to failure or success. For every "success" cited , there are two who could not make it work . The logic applies the other way round too.
Advantages of Practice In India 1. I do not know the practice model in UK, I cannot comment about the paper work/regulatory BS. In India , you do not have to deal with much of that , though most of the corporate hospitals have some sort of EMR.In India , labor is cheap , so you probably will get scribes/equivalents even if the culture spreads
2. Social/Personal - You know that already , I will not comment
Disadvantages/Limitations 1. Hours and Life Style: This is going to be a shock coming from Great Britain, especially if you are the primary bread winner and expect salary as the predominant component of annual income. 6 to 6.5 day work week is the norm especially in the metro. People expect cell phone numbers, especially in Hyderabad.
2.Distrust: You are the point of sale in India and enough idiots have screwed the system , there is a fair amount of distrust . Expect second opinions when you recommend common procedures . All said and done, in the West predominantly , this is not the issue . Every surgical consent is held in a video-taped room in many corporate hospitals in Hyderabad. There is enough anger in the system that physicians tend to be held responsible for negative outcomes irrespective of the cause . This is prevalent in the West , but probably more in India as the corporate system seems bent on screwing the common man . People are not idiots ,but they also have few choices and the helplessness irritates people
3. Corporate BS: Bangalore might be better than Hyderabad ( my experience is restricted to Hyderabad) : Corporate Hospitals are held by individuals/families and given the mushrooming , health care margins are wafer thin. "Referral fee " is alive and kicking in Hyderabad and each year I go , it actually becomes more formal and legitimate . You will be a part of the system if you are employed there . Make no mistake about that
4.Income : In India , physician income follows the 80-20 rule . 20% of physicians make 80% of income. If you are in the 20% , you are going to be okay . This is a contrast to relatively uniform salaries which tend to aggregate around the median in the West for majority
This has been my experience. I have been trying to go back for 3 years. Each year I spend 8 weeks (all my vacation) shadowing my Indian colleagues in Hyderabad and this is what I have gathered .There are lot of people practicing in India who hopefully will contribute. Expect each of the points to be countered by people practicing in India . And that is the point of forum, perspective and counter perspective - you should know as many perspectives as possible
KB Pandey's perspective : It is not easy, but if your heart is set on it, go for it. Go for it expecting challenges and see what happens .Preferably set up some thing on your own. For that you need to have a cash cushion . No place for rose tinted glasses nostalgia either personally and professionally. Hard reality is tough and brutal.