Migrating to Australia could be the best decision you make in your personal and professional life. Australia is a very inviting country where a large number of immigrants come in every year. The country has very high living standards, quality education, healthcare and many more perks.

Doctors in Australia have very high salaries and added benefits. Read on to find out how to immigrate to Australia as a doctor.

Eligibility Criteria to Work as a Doctor in Australia

All International Medical Graduates (IMGs) should fulfil the following basic eligibility criteria set aside by the Australian government, to work as a doctor in Australia.

·        You should have a recognized medical degree.

·        You should have a job offer from an employer.

·        Your skills should be assessed and be on a registration pathway.

·        You should have permanent residency or a visa to work in Australia.

·        You should prove your English language proficiency.

Visa Pathways

There are different types of visa pathways for IMGs who want to work as a doctor in Australia.

Working Holiday Visa

A working holiday visa is ideal for young doctors, especially for those under 30 years of age. They can come to Australia on a working holiday visa or work and holiday visa. You can travel and work with this visa, looking for employment as a doctor in Australia, before completing the skills assessment and registration procedures.

This visa is also ideal for doctors who already have a job offer in Australia, completed the skills assessment and registration, and want to start work quickly. It takes about 2 weeks to process a working holiday visa.

Temporary Work Visa

A temporary working visa is for doctors and medical practitioners who are sponsored by an Australian medical practice. This visa is a great way to obtain permanent residency in Australia. A temporary work visa provides a doctor 4 years to work in the sponsoring medical practice and any other medical practices. It takes about 3 months to process this type of visa.

Employer-Sponsored Migration

IMGs need to have a full medical registration to apply for employer-sponsored migration. There are two options here: the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) Subclass 187 and the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS).  ENS is for doctors working on a ‘self-employed’ basis whereas RSMS is for doctors directly employed by the medical practice. It takes 10 to 12 months to process employer-sponsored migration visas.

General Skilled Migration

This visa pathway has three options: the Independent Skilled, Skilled Nominated (190) and Skilled Regional visas. The first two are swift pathways to permanent residency whereas the latter is a provisional residence visa. Doctors can gain permanent visa after working for 2 years in a regional area and fulfilling other visa requirements. The Doctors need full medical registration to apply for the general skilled migration visa and the processing time can be as short as 1 week.

Business Visitor Stream

A business visitor stream visa is ideal for doctors who don’t have the relevant qualifications to work in Australia. It’s a bridging program where you can follow this program or sit their medical board examination to work as a doctor in Australia.

Pathways for Registration for IMGs

There are a few assessment pathways for registration for overseas trained doctors. If you want to know more

1.      Competent Authority Pathway

This pathway is for both specialist and non-specialist IMGs which leads to general registration. The Australian Medical Board has a list of competent authorities that have access to this pathway. They are:

·        Medical Council of New Zealand (NZREX)

·        General Medical Council (UK)

·        Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates of the US (USMLE)

·        Medical Council of Canada (LMCC)

·        Medical Council of Ireland

IMGs on this pathway should have a primary qualification in medicine and surgery from an institution that is approved by both the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS).

After completing 12 months of supervised practice at a satisfactory level, the applicants would receive provisional registration with AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).

2.      Specialist Pathway

The specialist pathway is available to overseas trained doctors with a primary medical qualification awarded by an institution that is recognized by both the AMC and the WDOMS. They need to have satisfied all the training and test requirements to practise in their specialty in their country of training. If not they should be no more than 2 years away from completing their foreign specialist training.

3.      Standard Pathway

The standard pathway is for doctors who are not eligible for the competent authority pathway or the specialist pathway.  To be eligible for this pathway, the applicant needs to have a primary medical qualification awarded by an institution that is recognized by both the AMC and the WDOMS.

The standard pathway consists of AMC examinations and workplace-based assessments. AMC examinations test the knowledge and skills of medical graduates. These exams are as follows:

·        The AMC CAT MCQ examination tests the knowledge of the principles and practice of medical specialties including general practice, paediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, surgery, and psychiatry.

·        The AMC clinical examination tests clinical skills in general medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, and psychiatry.

Provisional registration will be issued by the AHPRA after assessing the candidates’ foreign qualifications and work history.

Read the article Quick Summary of Pathways to Registration in Australia for more information on registration pathways.

Primary Source Verification for IMGs

Prior to applying for the above pathways, IMGs should apply for primary source verification of their educational qualifications. To do this, they need to submit their qualifications to ECFMG’s EPIC (Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials). The ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) serves international institutions and authorities involved in medical registration. They should also complete an online application on AMC to create an AMC portfolio.

English language Skills for IMGs

The Medical Board of Australia has made it mandatory for all candidates to prove their proficiency in the English language, as it is the language that is primarily used in Australia. The guidelines set by the board include English language skills tests like; .

·        IELTS

·        Pearson

·        TOEFL iBT

·        OET

·        NZREX

·        PLAB

Conclusion

At Medfuture we can assist you in finding the best doctor jobs in Australia. We have a number of permanent and locum doctor jobs in Australia that have very high pay scales.

We are here to guide IMGs to find the most-suited doctor jobs in Australia according to their specialties.

Visit our website to find out more information on the current list of jobs and see where you fit in.

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