Work as doctor in Denmark

The first question is:

Is it really better than in my country? (Would it be worth it to emigrate?)

For myself, I can answer that question with a clear yes.

But what does "better" mean? Better working conditions,
higher salary, more leisure time? What do I really want?

Below, you'll find information on working conditions, salary, and leisure time.

As mentioned on the homepage, my personal experience mainly comes from work in hospitals in the Region H.

Working conditions

As a physician without specialisation (equivalent to "reservelæge") in a public hospital, the standard conditions include:

A 37-hour-workweek
5 - 6 weeks of paid vacation
Shifts: the extent depends on the department, but usually there are no 24-hour shifts. A evening/nightshift ("aftennattevagt") is from around 15:30 to 8:00 (/9:00 inkl. shifthandover).
The entire day after is free, called "sleeping day" ("sovedag"), and officially not allowed to work before 8:00 the next day at the earliest (exceptions can happen).
If you work on the weekend, you have at least 1 day off in the following week, but often several days.
If you have overtime at the end of the"work period" (which is settled every 14 weeks), the overtime hours are multiplied by 1.5, and you either get paid for it or can take it as days off (though it's not very common to take the day-off option for various reasons).
If you have "negative hours" (yes, that can happen), they are cleared, and you start each work period at zero.

Extra duties occur, for example, when colleagues are sick. Initially, everybody gets asked, and if no one steps forward, somebody will draw lots on the possible remaining collegues (normally who don´t get included in that when you are f.ex. too far away, have to take care of your children (and your partner is absent) - this goes on trust basis.
For duties with less than 24 hours' notice, you receive approximately 300 euros gross, plus the hours are recorded as overtime. With 72 hours' notice, it's around 170 euros gross. This applies also, for example, weekend day duties (8 am - 3 pm).

Information on working conditions during parental leave can be found separately here.

For specialists (equivalent to "afdelingslæge") and chief physicians ("overlæge"), the conditions are as follows:

To be continued.

Salary

As a resisent doctor, the salary is composed as follows:

(Note: On official pages like læger.dk, there is a table labeled as "Netto," which unfortunately means without pension contributions, not as fx. in Germany, where net salary is after tax deduction. Therefore, here I have provided it as gross, as it would be indicated as before taxes.)

Base salary for 37 hours/week, Anniecitetsstufe 1: 34,411.50 DKK gross/month

After 5 years of experience, one moves to Anniecitetsstufe 2: 37,606 DKK gross/month - parental leave is included in the calculation of work experience.

"Supplement" for having permission for independent practice (that means successfully completed KBU): 3,736.12 DKK gross/month

"Supplement" for fulfilling a Forvagtsfunktion (early shift function): approx. 1,645 DKK gross/month

"Supplement" for fulfilling a Mellemvagtsfunktion (experienced shift function): approx. 3,000 DKK gross/month

Supplement for services:

Weekday: 20-8 o'clock: approx. 63 DKK/hr gross

Weekend 8-20 o'clock: approx. 63 DKK/hr gross

Weekend 20-8 o'clock: approx. 104 DKK/hr gross

Supplement for overtime: approx. 373 DKK/hr gross

In a (very) busy month as a forvagt, with permission for independent practice, it might look like this: for example, two weekend night shifts from 16-9 o'clock, two night shifts during the week, and 2 times Stuegang on the weekend. This would result in approximately 45,100 DKK gross/29,100 DKK net. I would say the "normal" salary typically varies between 26,000 DKK - 30,000 DKK net.

In general medicine practices, one would earn less since there are no services, no weekend supplements, and the forvagt/mellemvagt supplements are not applicable.

Many doctors so voluntarily take on extra shifts, for example, at the hospital where there is a shortage of duty doctors (e.g., in psychiatry, where the shifts can often be more relaxed) or at 1813 (the Danish medical on-call service). Some institutions offer to compensate for these shifts with "overtime pay" (overarbejde) or the so-called FEA-løn, which is even higher.

Free time

In general, I have experienced that working hours are adhered to. Overworking is not necessarily viewed positively; rather, it implies that you cannot complete your work in the given time, and something may be amiss (either with your work approach or the conditions).

If it happens that it's not an individual issue but a common challenge, a complaint is made to the supervisor, and a solution is sought (such as reducing the number of scheduled patients).

This may sound a bit stringent, but the emphasis should be on finding a solution when overworking occurs because nobody should be overworked.

I can't speak for all departments across Denmark, but these have been my experiences.

On a regular day on the ward, I finish my work no later than 3:30 PM.

On-call duties sometimes extend by half an hour to an hour due to handovers.

I have never been home later than 5:30 PM, normally I am home at 15:45-16:30 PM (including a commute of 30-45 minutes).

I want to add that compared to Germany I also come home with a lot more energy due to less stressful days/fewer patients (of course there can also be hard days, especially in winter when the typicial wave of illness hits).

Consequently, there is definitely enough free to have a hobby and spent nice quality time with your family.

Work Culture

Before starting to work in a Danish hospital, one typically had heard some key phrases. One of them is "flat hierarchies." This is definitely true, but it can vary from house to house and from ward to ward.

The tone is generally very friendly. Opinions/suggestions from assistant doctors are usually taken seriously; everyone has their place and is treated with respect.

Of course, when things get busy, it can also become hectic, and the tone may get a bit tougher.

I personally have never experienced someone yelling at another person. That, I believe, would be more likely considered a sign of weakness. So if you coming from work culture, where you would be used to using this "technique" to get respect - do not do this in Denmark. The opposite will most likely happen.

I experienced that it is normal to receive a lot of praise, in my opinion, even for things that I would see as "normal work", but I felt this to be very uplifting as it makes one feel appreciated.

But also, things that aren't going well are easily addressed, which can seem very direct (but in a broader sense, prevents "behind-the-back" talk), and again, a solution is sought. No looking for the "the guilty one".

In the beginning, when I was occasionally "criticized," I immediately went into a defensive mode until I eventually understood that nobody actually wanted to criticize me, but simply thought I could do better and wanted to help me bring out the best in myself and simply wanted to see how I could achieve that. That was great and a very different approach than what I knew before.

Now, a few points that I think one should pay attention to. Regarding flat hierarchies: It's nice as an assistant doctor, but one should also be mindful of behaving in the same way.

One should not simply "command" nurses (if one wants to adhere to social standards). Decisions are made collectively; usually, the nurse who knows the patient better than oneself (Due to that she/he has spent more time with the patient), also has a clear opinion that should be taken into account. If one overlooks this too often, complaints may arise, and nurses' complaints are taken seriously (like those of everyone else), because - at this point, I bring up the term "jantelov" - no one is "better" than another.

What I sometimes missed in Denmark, as opposed to Germany, was the connection among assistant doctors. I think this has several reasons. One is usually not on a ward for more than a year. (That's another topic in itself, but in short: staying somewhere for too long is seen as inflexible and doesn't get you ahead. Most contracts are designed for one year. It may sound alarming to Germans, but it's not a problem, because everyone constantly changes, almost every month there are vacancies on each station, so it's not a problem to find a new job.)

But that means there are usually no colleagues you work with for a very long time.

Another reason is, I think, that one simply does not "suffer as much," i.e., one is not actually a "fellow sufferer." That is, of course, very nice on the one hand, but it doesn't always create a bond like it does when you have the same topics to complain of (ok, maybe this is a German thing!).

Here, one is more likely to do his/her (very bearable ;) ) work and quickly go home (to his/her family).

Sometimes I felt a bit lonely in the work context, but I personally also enjoyed going home early and having more time for my life/contacts outside of work.

Danish doctors might perceive this a little differently, as they still know people from their studies whom they end up working with on the same station, but I didn't have that and had to start networking from scratch - and also, I thought it was hard for me to small talk in danish in the beginning - this might of course maybe also be a reason why I felt this way.

And now - that I have a family of my own, I am also more than happy just to be able to spent a lot time with them after work and don´t miss strong work relations too much.