Salaries for expat surgeons / Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) / Otolaryngology?

Many recruiting firms have created salary guides for expats in China. They are usually pretty good and help you feel your way in what to expect.

Here is the 2018 Hudson China expat salary guide. 

Here is the 2015 salary guide from  Gemini.

Best regards.

Thanks much for this lead. I looked at both of your links, as well as downloading a bunch of other salary guides. Interestingly, none of them tried to give guidance for any kind of expat medical provider: I couldn't find any estimates for what primary care doctors, adult specialists, nurses, or specialist surgeons might earn. It may be that this is a small enough niche that nobody can generate meaningful data.

Yes, you are probably correct.

here are some basic rules of thumbs...

[1]  If you are being recruited for a company in China, and you reside outside of China, you can ask, and expect, "expat level" salary and benefits.

[2] Otherwise, if you are currently inside China, the chances that you would get an "expat package" is rather small, I am afraid. For me, while I have a decent enough salary, it is nothing like what I would get in the United States for a comparable position. I am afraid that long-term expats are at a disadvantage here in this area.

[3] An "expat package" is provided to an expat to recruit them to a foreign land, keep them interested in staying, and proceeds under the understanding that it will be a "hardship post" with a duration not to exceed a year.

[4] An "expat package" will typically be calculated as what your rate would be in your home nation plus 10 to 15%. There would also be full relocation costs, and absorption of the costs to sell or rent out your house and store any furniture or belongings. It would also include a period of meals and hotels that would be covered by the addition of a "per diem" monetary award for a set period of time. The company would also provide you medical insurance for you and your family.  Also included would be the costs for schooling for your children.

[5] The most expensive parts of an "expat package" would be the medical insurance and the schooling for the children. China has the most expensive costs in these two areas. Your children would need to attend an "international school", as it would be unlikely (though, not impossible) for them to attend local schools. An International school can run you $5000 USD per month per child. Yikes!

[6] If the salary guides cannot help you, then I would suggest my guidelines above. Just take your current salary add 10%, and convert to RMB. Include the costs for insurance for your family and schools for the children. Ask for relocation assistance and a three to six month per diem to help you find an apartment.

This is all negotiable. If there is an active staff in China, they can set you all up in an apartment and schools, transportation and whatever rather effortlessly. Best wishes.

Thanks so much for the complete answer, this is super helpful. We reside in the USA and we are in no hurry to relocate, so there is a lot of time to negotiate this. I guess it remains to be seen how interested SH hospitals might be in recruiting from the USA versus tapping the talent that resides in SH, but ENT surgery is a very small and specialized field with few practitioners. We will find out.