USMLE is a three-part exam, with parts 2b and 3 that need to be done stateside. It’s doable in 3 months, but you must want it badly. My GF did in 3 months flat and passed easily but she did it 9-10 years after getting her MD so she had to brush up on quite some material to get up to speed. You should get a head start if you get to it immediately though.
Veggies are very abundant in both AU and the US, albeit at a premium in the latter. Food is generally inexpensive in Australia and of excellent quality. The spectrum is much broader in the US ranging from low end shops to Whole Foods. You’ll want to shop at Whole Foods most of the time. I have yet to find something remotely relatable in Switzerland. I dearly miss the US shopping experience in ZH. There’s Jelmoli and Globus and while the selection is fine, the emphasis put on the posh aspect is just too obvious to make it an enjoyable experience. I really miss Whole Foods here.
Sydney is 1h away from Melbourne, 3h from all of New Zealand, 9h from Hong Kong. You’ll find yourself hopping on weekend trips to Fiji, Bali, Singapore, Bali, New Caledonia and so on. It’s not that bad but if you’re after Berlin, London or Amsterdam, you won’t have that.
Australia is generally expensive too. So is the US actually. Long term though I think you’ll benefit much, much more from taking your education overseas and eyeing a possible return to Europe later on. Plus, you won’t sound like an educated idiot who actually can’t speak English (trust me, a lot of people here have a high opinion of their English skills – and just nothing to back that up, really). As a consultant radiologist in Australia, you’re looking at making upward of A$350k all the way up to A$1m. You’ll probably make a similar figure in the US.
Mandarin doesn’t get much traction in Australia. I think the cultural divide is just too great and it might just take generations before mainstream interest picks up. If you go there, I’d recommend learning Indonesian though.
Frugality gets a great deal of attention on this forum and that’s fine. If spending time commuting to a supermarket abroad to save pennies on your groceries is your idea of time well spent, then so be it. You might get away with that mindset in Switzerland as virtually all neighbouring countries have lower PPP but that obviously won’t work overseas. If you’re going to be making a killing being a consultant, being in AU, the US or CH won’t make much of a difference as far as taxes are concerned. AU taxation is much more open to deductions of various kinds and most there make it a point of pride to deduct just about anything as work related expenses, e.g. an iPad, this new iPhone, your car, and so on. Every time my GF flews to a conference in the US, she’d list travel expenses in her tax returns. Hell mate, she even deducted her US$20,000 USMLE (that’s for all three parts + books + flying twice to the US to sit the exams).
Good luck to you. If I were you I’d blast off. You truly won’t regret it.
Tootle pip!