Medical registration

State and Territory Medical Boards are responsible for the registration of all doctors. Many Medical Boards will not grant actual registration until the overseas trained doctor (OTD) has the appropriate visa, but they can give a written indication that the OTD should be able to practise in Australia, subject to the granting of medical registration after they arrive onshore.

As an employer, you are responsible for comprehensive vetting of applicants to ensure that they are appropriately qualified for the position and, therefore, likely to achieve medical registration in Australia. This applies even if you use a medical recruitment agency to pre-qualify applicants.

Make sure you fully describe the job requirements. Some OTDs, for cultural or religious reasons, may have an issue with performing certain procedures---pap smears, for example.

There are 2 types of medical registration in Australia, full medical registration and conditional medical registration. Most OTDs enter the Australian medical workforce with conditional medical registration.

The category of medical registration available to a particular OTD will determine the level of supervision employers need to provide, training requirements for the OTD and whether you need to obtain Area of Need approval for the position.

The first requirement that OTDs have to meet is the English language requirement. Following on from that, OTDs who have passed the Australian Medical Council (AMC) examination and have been issued with an AMC certificate, as well as OTDs with general practice or specialist qualifications recognised by the relevant Australian Specialist Medical College, usually meet medical registration requirements that allow for independent/unsupervised practice in Australia. In these circumstances, the OTD does not need to work in an Area of Need and employers are not required to obtain Area of Need approval. Occupational trainees are the other category of OTD who do not need to work in an Area of Need.

For a better understanding of assessment processes for OTDs, you can review the information under Assessment pathways for hospital non-specialists, general practitioners or specialists.

Alternatively, you may prefer to contact the relevant Medical Board, the Australian Medical Council and the relevant Specialist Medical College to review their requirements. Employers who wish to recruit an overseas trained specialist should also read information under the Specialist recognition section.