ATLS tuition: market analysis

[Michelle Boekelaar]

As a junior doctor, I'd be happy to pay USD$550-650 for the two day course,
so I think a $100 price rise is reasonable. Compare this to the Royal
Australian College of Surgeons-run EMST (Early Management of Severe Trauma)
course, which is essentially a 2 1/2 day version of ATLS, supposedly adapted
to Australian conditions but using the same ATLS book and slides. The course
fee charged for this is AUD $2310 in 2008 - that's USD$2000! (More than the
average fortnight's after-tax pay for most junior doctors.)

An increasing number of doctors seem to be doing it the way I did (the smart
way!) and avoiding the exorbitant costs by going to countries like
Singapore where the course is roughly SGD$600 (USD$425) and thus you can fly
there, stay in a nice hotel, do the ATLS and have a nice holiday in the form
of "study leave" for the same price as doing the same course in
Australia. I'm very interested to hear about the costs in other countries,
and the reasons why the Aussie course is so much more.

Cheers,
Michelle Boekelaar
Western Australia

PS Thanks for the ever-informative and entertaining list; it's been a great
source of both information and motivation for me. :)