Doctors: Impoverished in Russia, fabulously wealthy in USA

Medics top the list of highest-earning professions in the United States for eight years already. Anesthesiologist is the most lucrative profile bringing the profit of $290,000 a year. For comparison, the profession of a doctor in Russia comes along with the earnings made by secretaries, sales assistants and janitors. The average Russian medic receives $12,000 a year.

According to PayScale.com, the second most profitable profession in the USA is a surgeon - $260,000 a year. The top three ends with ER doctors with $250,000 a year.

Non-medical professions start with the eighth position: product management director: $148,000 a year, software development director - $144,000, sales director - $144,000 a year.

The profession of a doctor in the USA is the most demanding one of all. Medical specialists must have the highest level of education in the country, which they have to improve throughout their practice. This is a very expensive profession in terms of receiving education and developing further career.

In Russia, medical specialists are included on the list of lowest-paid professions. The average salary of a doctor in Russia makes up approximately 28,000 rubles a month (less than $12,000 a year). Many Russian doctors make even less than that. As for young specialists in the field of medicine, they virtually make nothing and have to spend a lot on mandatory post-graduate education.

"There are some people of course, who have business qualities which they can use in founding private clinics. However, in 95 percent of cases, the situation with medical specialists' earnings in Russia is antipodal to that in the United States," Mikhail Zhukov, the director of Russia's major HR agency told Bigness.ru.

As for Russia's highest-paid professions, the leadership belongs to central executive officers and business managers (banks, telecommunications, IT and oligarchic structures). The list continues with top managers responsible for commerce - sales, development, corporate sales block managers, etc. the earnings of these categories of managers consist of their actual remuneration plus bonuses which may double or triple their wages.

Ekaterina Yevstigneyeva
Bigness