[matheusmoreira]

> Looking through the "Who's Hiring" thread is soul-crushing.

I know how you feel. I gave up on tech as a teenager and I still wonder what would've happened if I had stuck with it. Feels like it's impossible to switch careers now.

Where I live practicing medicine used to be a respectable profession but that's completely changed for the worse in the last 20 years. The communists currently running my country are literally quoted saying "we must create a new generation of leftist doctors who accept working for less". They flooded the job market with doctors.

[mavelikara]

> They flooded the job market with doctors.

US doctors have to put in long hours because there aren't enough of them. Are things different in your country?

[matheusmoreira]

Yes. Same hours but nosediving pay because we now have an infinite amount of deeply indebted doctors fresh off medical school competing for the same jobs. Wages are literally decreasing year upon year for the average brazilian medic. Workload is also increasing because healthcare managers are starting to interfere more and more in patient care. They want 10 minute consults.

[mavelikara]

So hours are long, and the number of Drs in the market are increasing. Are the number of patients increasing, or the time consumed by each increasing, or unemployment among Drs increasing?

[matheusmoreira]

> Are the number of patients increasing

The number of patients is literally never ending. It's a property of the decentralized public health system. If you have resources to spare, patients will be sent to you. No matter how much time and money you pour into healthcare, it's never enough. It's as if demand instantly scaled to exceed capacity.

> or the time consumed by each increasing

On the contrary, it's reducing. Cheap fast consults in popular clinics are now the norm. Doctors are doing more in less time for less money. The numbers are embarrassing, especially when converted to USD. The only consolation is it's still pretty good due to our low cost of living.

Brazilian software developers working for american companies for a salary that would be inhumane to an american put doctors here to shame. I'm talking 2-4x, depending on the company and exchange rate. It wasn't like this before.

> unemployment among Drs increasing?

A few years ago I saw someone joke about doctors driving Ubers for the first time. It's looking more and more likely each year. I'm also seeing doctors simply abandon the profession straight up.

[mavelikara]

Thank you for explaining.

> Brazilian software developers working for american companies for a salary that would be inhumane to an american put doctors here to shame. I'm talking 2-4x, depending on the company and exchange rate. It wasn't like this before.

It sounds to me that this is really the root cause of your unhappiness, rather than more doctors entering the market. We had a similar situation in India too, but over time the wealth gets spread around. The software engineers will too, after all, need healthcare and they will be willing to spend more on it given their higher disposable incomes.

[matheusmoreira]

> It sounds to me that this is really the root cause of your unhappiness

I know it sounds that way but the truth is I'm doing pretty good myself. I too make 2-4x more than those doctors. I just talked to one on Instagram about it. When I calculate the value per hour, I'm actually outcompeting those full time software developers. I make good money and have lots of free time.

Still, it's a bleak picture. In a few decades, medicine went from an elite profession, essentially guaranteed prosperity, to basically a normal job. Soon it looks like the liabilities will exceed the returns. Too much responsibility for too little pay. People here love suing doctors just like in the US. Why would anyone want to put up with that if they're not making a fortune?

The best option right now is to use medicine to raise some quick capital, start a business then quit medicine.