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Thursday, March 5, 2015

Standard Pathway for Doctors to Australia.


This pathway is generally for Non-specialist International Medical Graduates  (IMGs) seeking general registration with the Medical Board of Australia and who do not qualify for the Competent Authority Pathway. IMGs who have a primary qualification in Medicine and Surgery awarded by a training institution listed in the current International Medical Education Directory (IMED) of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) can apply for assessment under this pathway.

There are two alternative processes under this pathway, both leading to the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Certificate (a requirement for general registration)
I would list the process step-by-step :
OPTION A
1. Register on the AMC website, you would be given an AMC candidate number
Standard Pathway application (to determine eligibility to proceed with AMC examination process, including EICS verification of primary qualification) this costs 500 AUD
2. Verify all your documents at notary public or Australian high commission. 
3. Send your documents by mail to the AMC for Educational Commission For Foreign Medical Graduate (EICS) verification here
4. Wait for response of approval. your documents would be returned to you if you wish.
5.Then you can now apply to sit for the exam.
6. Examination dates are available every month of the year
7. There are limited centers around the world: For instance, no center in Africa. Click here to check venues
8. The exam is arguably one of the most expensive amongst various medical exams worldwide. As at 2015, the exam fee for the part 1 AMC MCQ is 3,500 AUD

9.After successfully passing the  part 1 (AMC MCQ) exam, you can begin to search for job in Australia

10. As part of the employment process, employers conduct PESCI (Pre-Employment Structured Clinical Interview)...sometimes through skype or directly if you are in Australia.

NOTE: Some employers don't conduct this interview, as there have been cases of some people who gets jobs without this structured interview.

11. If you didn't get a job soon, while you await a job opportunity, you can proceed with the AMC part 2 (clinical exam). passing this equally increases your chance of quickly getting a job. The part 2 AMC MCQ exam is conducted only in Australia.

12. You can seek job with private of government hospitals, government seems to be the better option as they usually have migration services.

13. If you are offered a job, some companies/hospitals have a migration assistant and they will take charge of all the migration process...however some others don't. So you would have to take care of the migration process by yourself. Example of territories with migration assistance is NSW health authority
14. You need to write an academic module of  the International English Language Test System (IELTS) with the Bench mark of 7.0 before you can collect an AMC Certificate

15. Then complete a 12 month period of supervised practise (47 weeks minimum) and you will be issued a full AMC certificate.

16. It is also advisable to submit an EOI expression of interest to migrate to Australia

OPTION B
If you are an IMG from Africa, Asia or the Middle East, another way to take which will give you more chance of getting a job or practice in Australia are;
Firstly write an academic module of  the International English Language Test System (IELTS) with the Bench mark of 7.5 and you must not score below 7.0 in all the exam sections (Reading,
Speaking, Writing and Listening).

Secondly, register for the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test which provides the main route for (IMGs) to demonstrate that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to practise medicine in the United Kingdom (UK).

The PLAB test has 2 parts:
Part 1 : Consists of A Multiple choice format Examination Paper with 200 SBA's (Two Hundred Single Best Answer questions) lasting 3 hours, This part is conducted in a number of countries including Bangladesh, Egypt (Cairo), India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka.

Part 2 : Consists of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). This Part is available only in the city of Manchester, United Kingdom. It consists of 14 clinical stations, a pilot station and a rest station. The pilot station is usually unannounced and mixed with the clinical stations. The marks for the pilot station do not count towards the final score. All the stations are of five minutes duration. The level of difficulty of the clinical part of the PLAB exam is set at the level of competence of a senior house officer in a first appointment in a UK hospital.
On completing your PLAB  tests you can seek a job in the UK, work there for one or two years to gain an experience in the UK system which is similar to and equally recognized in Australian Medical System.

I'm not saying you can't write the AMC MCQ exams or go straight to Australia and search for placement.  I'm only suggesting an alternative pathway to move to Australia from the experience gathered from reliable IMG's in Australia. Some have done it successfully. It will also boost your chance of getting things easy in Australia. Some have been lucky to get jobs while others have not been so lucky.

Do you know employers' preference for job applicants follows this sequence: 
1. Australian citizens who graduated from Australian and New Zealand(NZ) medical schools 
2. Non-Australian graduates of Australia and New Zealand (NZ) medical schools
3. Doctors from UK (working or have experience in UK medical System)
4. Other competent authority countries ( such as Canada, Ireland, USA etc.)
5. Countries with Health system comparable to Australia's (countries of the European Union basically)
6. All other IMGs

Bear in mind that there's usually an average of 500 applicants for every job opening.

Good luck!

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10 comments:

  1. Here is my question .
    I have completed my PLAB PART 2 in 2005 and gotten a SHO job in the UK for 8 months. After that there was a long gap years away from medical field for 10 years. Am I still eligible to take a AMC written exam without prior IELTS?

    thanks and regards


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To be candid 10 years Gap in your medical practice it's a big deal in both UK and Australia.
      However, you can write to AMC regarding your IELTS exemption. Good luck!!

      Delete
  2. Very INFORMATIVE and just FANTASTIC! I was looking for the related information. Thanks a lot it is very useful for me.
    I would like to introduce the online jobs in Australia, you can easily post/ search your job with OzDial it’s totally free.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Thank you for the helpful, clear and concise article. Does that mean once one passes the necessary exams, one can job hunt immediately through the year whenever a position opens up? Or is there a national round of recruitment on specific time(s) in a year for eg. like in the UK, junior doctors generally start in August every year? Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Excellent and helpful post… I am so glad to left comment on this. This has been a so interesting ..I appreciate your effort..
    Online Doctor in Australia

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, I'm an IMG who graduated from Ireland last month, I have signed up for the AMC MCQ and plan to job search after while I'm waiting to do the OSCE. What job tittle am I allowed to apply for after completing the MCQ? Since I have not completed an internship year (hence the standard pathway) I am confused as to what job (intern, JMO, etc..) I'm eligible to apply for. Thank you for your help

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, cool post. I'd like to write like this too - taking time and real hard work to make a great article... but I put things off too much and never seem to get started. Thanks though. Get European visit Visa

    ReplyDelete
  7. EMC Migration professional experts Partner Visa Australia will give you advice on Partner Visa and guide you through the process for Australian Visas.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm taking a Certificate III in Health Services Assistance to be part of the medical field. Do you this it will be a good pathway?

    ReplyDelete