I have seen many times that the the work/life balance in Japan is bad, so I wonder how bad are they for doctors specifically? How often and how many hours do they work there?
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**How bad is it really to work as a doctor in Japan?**
I have seen many times that the the work/life balance in Japan is bad, so I wonder how bad are they for doctors specifically? How often and how many hours do they work there?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Isn’t it near impossible to transfer medical credentials into japan anyway?
Depends on how much money you wanna make. You could work part time at a clinic once a week and make twice as much as an English teacher.
I work with surgical robotics from time to time and consult with surgical teams mostly at Keio University.
Reading from the OP’s posting history, they are only 15 years old which is “lucky” since they will have some time to prepare. Japanese med school STARTS at age 18. That is, in Japan, medical school begins right after graduation from high school. There is a period of general study for the first 2 years, followed by 4 years of medicine-related instruction.
This is a really hard question to answer because not all doctors are the same. Also, Japan is shifting, albeit slowly, towards a better work life balance by enacting laws to limit overtime work and setting penalties for employers that create an environment of expected overwork or even death by overwork (Karoshi).
While all doctors may not be subject to the overtime rules the point is that society is shifting and in 10 or 15 years the situation could be different.
I do know a few doctors in Japan and I can share my impressions: – An annual checkup is required here and I’ve chatted with the doctor. He is extremely busy with consults 5 days a week about 5.5 hours a day, but he says that he doesn’t need to take work late because he just refers all patients to another doctor. – In my girlfriend’s neighborhood there is a family doctor that is pretty chatty. His office is attached to his residence. He drives a nice off-road Jeep and often takes camping, biking and surfing trips with his family. His office is only open 3 to 4 days a week. – I meet a doctor while soaking in an Onsen in Kagoshima that was very chatty. He works 6 days a week for 3 weeks, but then takes a full week off every month. Has multiple kids with different women in Philippines and travels there once a month. – There is an emergency room doctor (female) that lives in my floor. She has a boyfriend that is a mental health doctor and sometimes we double date. Her hospital is very strict on no overwork and she actually has to clock in and out as well as her computer hours are tracked. She has to be in the hospital for 40 hours, but then she puts in an additional 5 or 10 hours a week doing paperwork or research. – The boyfriend, the mental health doctor, just works 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. He has to rotate locations so sometimes he has to travel 2 to 3 hours additional (not paid) on some days.
I don’t know if this is representative of all doctors in Japan and perhaps I only meet these doctors because they aren’t overworking.
The takeaway is that some doctors in Japan have a healthy work-life balance. They aren’t rich, but considering where they live and what they do in their spare time it seems like they are compensated well.
5 comments
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
—
**How bad is it really to work as a doctor in Japan?**
I have seen many times that the the work/life balance in Japan is bad, so I wonder how bad are they for doctors specifically? How often and how many hours do they work there?
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/movingtojapan) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Isn’t it near impossible to transfer medical credentials into japan anyway?
Depends on how much money you wanna make. You could work part time at a clinic once a week and make twice as much as an English teacher.
I work with surgical robotics from time to time and consult with surgical teams mostly at Keio University.
>how many hours do they work
On average, Japanese doctors work the same number of hours[^†](https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-022-03789-7) of North American doctors [{59hrs/wk}](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1385440/physicians-work-hours-united-states/). The main complaint I hear CONSTANTLY from Japanese physicians is they earn less than **half the amount of income** compared to North America no matter how distinguished they are in their speciality.
Reading from the OP’s posting history, they are only 15 years old which is “lucky” since they will have some time to prepare. Japanese med school STARTS at age 18. That is, in Japan, medical school begins right after graduation from high school. There is a period of general study for the first 2 years, followed by 4 years of medicine-related instruction.
If the OP could get to a [JLPT level N-2](https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.htm), they could apply to a Japanese med program which are only conducted in Japanese. If the OP was really a hotshot genius, they could use a Japanese government [MEXT Scholarship](https://www.jlpt.jp/e/about/levelsummary.htm).
This is a really hard question to answer because not all doctors are the same. Also, Japan is shifting, albeit slowly, towards a better work life balance by enacting laws to limit overtime work and setting penalties for employers that create an environment of expected overwork or even death by overwork (Karoshi).
While all doctors may not be subject to the overtime rules the point is that society is shifting and in 10 or 15 years the situation could be different.
I do know a few doctors in Japan and I can share my impressions:
– An annual checkup is required here and I’ve chatted with the doctor. He is extremely busy with consults 5 days a week about 5.5 hours a day, but he says that he doesn’t need to take work late because he just refers all patients to another doctor.
– In my girlfriend’s neighborhood there is a family doctor that is pretty chatty. His office is attached to his residence. He drives a nice off-road Jeep and often takes camping, biking and surfing trips with his family. His office is only open 3 to 4 days a week.
– I meet a doctor while soaking in an Onsen in Kagoshima that was very chatty. He works 6 days a week for 3 weeks, but then takes a full week off every month. Has multiple kids with different women in Philippines and travels there once a month.
– There is an emergency room doctor (female) that lives in my floor. She has a boyfriend that is a mental health doctor and sometimes we double date. Her hospital is very strict on no overwork and she actually has to clock in and out as well as her computer hours are tracked. She has to be in the hospital for 40 hours, but then she puts in an additional 5 or 10 hours a week doing paperwork or research.
– The boyfriend, the mental health doctor, just works 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. He has to rotate locations so sometimes he has to travel 2 to 3 hours additional (not paid) on some days.
I don’t know if this is representative of all doctors in Japan and perhaps I only meet these doctors because they aren’t overworking.
The takeaway is that some doctors in Japan have a healthy work-life balance. They aren’t rich, but considering where they live and what they do in their spare time it seems like they are compensated well.