A new way to fast-track urgently needed overseas-trained medical specialists into the Australian health system has moved a step closer.
The issue, which dominated the latest annual meeting of the Medical Board of Australia, is initially prioritising GPs, anaesthetists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, and psychiatrists.
The process aims to get more specialists face to face with patients, through a fast-track that will sit alongside the existing specialist medical college assessment system.
The change will recognise specific overseas specialist medical qualifications and grant upfront specialist registration to eligible doctors. Initial conditions on their registration will be imposed as a safeguard to protect patients while the new recruits are inducted into Australia’s healthcare system.
Ahpra and the MBA have set up a taskforce to develop the new expedited pathway and the Board is now consulting with the specialist colleges for the priority medical specialities to finalise the list of qualifications that will be the gateway to fast-track registration.
Discussions with the RACGP, ACCRM, ANZCA, RANZCOG and RANZCP are underway to determine which qualifications have consistently been assessed as comparable in existing college approval processes.
The new pathway is a direct response to the Kruk Review, which recommended expediting specialist registration for eligible medical specialists from countries with comparable healthcare systems.
Australia’s former Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy said the move was essential.
“We do have health workforce shortages in Australia… but as always, the shortages in the medical workforce are not evenly distributed geographically or among medical specialists,” Prof Murphy said.
“Despite the return to pre-COVID migration levels, the shortages persist without clear evidence that the Australian training pipeline of doctors will resolve them anytime soon. There should be greater certainty for specialist international medical graduates that they will be registered and able to practise in their specialty.
“For those doctors who are currently in the process of migrating, we should be doing everything possible to get them into clinical practice as soon as it is safe. We should do what we can to make migration to Australia attractive for those doctors who we really need to fill critical shortages in critical locations and specialties including, if necessary, subsidising some of the costs.”
MBA member and lead on the Board’s Specialist IMG taskforce, Dr Susan O’Dwyer, said specific qualifications could be validated as part of a published list of eligible qualifications, and that if an SIMG has a qualification on the list, they would not need to apply to the college for an assessment of their qualification.
Under the proposal, migrants would apply directly to the MBA for specialist registration, before working under supervision for six months and completing requirements such as a cultural safety program and orientation to the Australian healthcare system.
“Once the requirements are completed satisfactorily, they would be granted unconditional specialist registration,” Dr O’Dwyer said.
“Fellowship of a specialist medical college will not be an automatic outcome of the new expedited pathway, but the Board will consult with all specialist colleges through a specifically constituted SIMG advisory council to explore the implications of this and possible solutions.
The expedited specialist pathway for general practice is set to start in October 2024; with the expedited pathway for anaesthetics, obstetrics, gynaecology, and psychiatry beginning in December.