Standard Pathway
The standard pathway is one of 3 ways an international medical graduate can become a General Practitioner in Australia.
If you are not eligible for the Competent Authority or Specialist Pathways, this is the pathway for you.
HOW DO I START THIS PATHWAY?
Your first step on this pathway is to have a primary qualification in medicine and surgery awarded by a training institution recognised by both the Australian Medical Council and the World Directory of Medical Schools.
At a minimum you will also need to have sat for and passed the AMC MCQ Exam and an approved English Language Test. For more information on the English Language Test check out our other blogs here: https://www.peoplemedical.com.au/what-english-language-tests-do-ahpra-accept/
If you choose to leave the AMC Clinical until later but have passed the AMC MCQ Exam and an English Language Test you will be eligible for Limited Registration with the Medical Board of Australia.
You can also choose to sit for the AMC Clinical after you have passed the AMC MCQ. This is a requirement to be eligible for General Registration later on in your journey. Additionally, it makes you eligible for Provisional Registration with the Medical Board of Australia.
TYPES OF REGISTRATION
As an IMG you will be eligible for one of three kinds of registration on the standard pathway:
Limited Registration (Area of Need):
In order to be eligible for Limited Registration (Area of Need) in a General Practice setting you will need to have a Medical degree, have passed the AMC MCQ and an English Language Test and have 3 or more comparable years of assessed General Practice Experience.
In our experience, you generally need 5 or more years of overseas experience to be assessed as having 3 years of comparable Australian General Practice Experience.
If you are unsure, you can apply for an RACGP General Practice Experience Assessment. You may need to complete this step before applying to AHPRA for registration later on in the pathway. This assessment is not mandatory but AHPRA will complete their own assessment if this is not provided. And the AHPRA assessment cannot be used as evidence towards Fellowship.
Limited Registration (Post-Graduate Training Program):
In order to be eligible for Limited Registration (Post Graduate Training) in a General Practice setting you will need to have a Medical degree, have passed the AMC MCQ and an English Language Test. Whilst it is not a requirement to have 3+ years of comparable general practice experience, there is less risk of AHPRA not approving an application if you have at least 3+ years of prior General Practice Experience.
Provisional Registration:
In order to be eligible for Provisional Registration in a General Practice setting you will need to have a Medical degree, have passed the AMC MCQ and an English Language Test AND have passed the AMC Clinical. Because of the difficulty of the AMC Clinical, AHPRA does not require you to have any previous general practice experience, however we would still suggest that you have at least 12 months of prior GP experience.
FIND A JOB
Before you can gain registration as a Medical Practitioner in Australia you will need to find a job in either General Practice or in the Hospital System.
Hospital
If you do not have any general practice experience, we recommend you start in the Hospital system. You will need to work for a period of 12 months including the following rotations: Medicine (8 weeks), Surgery (8 weeks), and Emergency Medicine (10 weeks).
In this time you will also need to have either passed the AMC Clinical or undertaken Workplace Based Assessment in order to be eligible for General Registration. Want to know the difference between AMC and Workplace Based Assessment? Read our blog: https://www.peoplemedical.com.au/amc-clinical-vs-workplace-based-assessment/
General Practice
The first thing to do before looking for any General Practice positions is to check your restrictions. There are 4 for international medical graduates- 19AA, 19AB, Health Workforce Certificate and supervision.
19AA requires Permanent Resident or Australian Citizen General Practitioners who are not yet Fellows to join a 3GA program in order to prepare for the fellowship exams. Generally, these programs require you to work in a MMM 2 – 7 area.
19AB requires IMG’s to work in a Distribution Priority Area for a moratorium of 10 years. You can check what areas are DPA here: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/apps-and-tools/health-workforce-locator/health-workforce-locator
If you require your visa to be sponsored, your clinic will need to be eligible to hold a Health Workforce Certificate.
As a doctor on Limited or Provisional Registration you will need to be supervised until you hold General or Specialist Registration. You require at a minimum 2 Vocationally Registered Supervisors with at least 3 years of experience as a Specialist who are not supervising another IMG on Level 1 supervision, so make sure your clinic is able to provide this.
You can find General Practice positions on private or job boards, or contact us for help finding a job!
PESCI
Once you have a general practice job, you will be required to sit a PESCI for that location. A PESCI is an interview format exam that assesses your ability to practice safely in that location. You can sit a PESCI with either RACGP or ACRRM. Find more information about PESCI’s here: https://www.peoplemedical.com.au/pesci-update-2020/
REGISTRATION
Once you have passed your PESCI you can apply for Registration with AHPRA. If you require any help with this paperwork, get in touch with us!
SUPERVISED PRACTICE
As a doctor on Limited or Provisional Registration, you will be required to undertake 47 weeks of supervised practice. During this time, you will also need to have passed the AMC Clinical. Once you have passed your AMC Clinical you will be eligible for General Registration. If you don’t want to sit the AMC Clinical, you can skip General Registration and instead sit for the Fellowship exams and go straight to Specialist Registration. Please not however, that you can only renew your initial registration 3 times, so make sure you are close to receiving Fellowship if you decide to skip General Registration
GENERAL REGISTRATION
Once you hold General Registration you may work without supervision wherever you want (within your Medicare restrictions).
FELLOWSHIP
In order to become a Fellowed General Practitioner you will need to sit for either the ACRRM or RACGP Fellowship Exams. You may also be required to join a Fellowship Training Program in order to prepare for these Exams. Read our blog for more information: https://www.peoplemedical.com.au/pathways-to-fellowship/
Once you have passed, you will be a Vocationally Registered General Practitioner in Australia.
*Please keep in mind that you will continue to be restricted by 19AB until the end of your moratorium.
DO YOU NEED HELP?
Our team offer General Practitioners assistance with finding jobs and a career pathway, and Medical Facilities to find a new Medical Practitioner. We also help with the full application process with AHPRA, RACGP, ACRRM, Department of Health, Medicare including 19AA & 19AB. If we can help, please contact us at help@peoplemedical.com.au.
People Medical Consulting are a team of professionals with a passion for guiding those specialising in the Medical industry to find their career pathway and settle into Australia. Working with both Australian trained and Overseas trained professionals, we have extensive experience in Recruitment of General Practitioners and Document Assistance for those requiring support with RACGP, AHPRA, 19AA and 19AB Medicare Exemptions.
