Practicing in Australia as an Overseas Graduate

[dr. cudjoe]

hi. am a medical doctor living and working in ghana. please i want to know how to migrate and work in australia. i want to know all the steps involved as an international medical graduate

 

[Benjamin]

Hi Dr. Cudjoe,

You're asking a question that has a lot of different answers depending on how far along you are in terms of training - i.e. the process is very different for an intern/resident compared to a consultant/fellow.

Could you give us some more information so that we can try to give you a better answer?

• What are your current qualifications? Which university did you graduate from and how much experience do you currently have? (i.e. intern, 3rd year resident, consultant surgeon for 20 years etc)
• What are your reasons for wanting to work in Australia?

In general the process of transferring qualifications to Australia is very difficult and often requires examinations/a period of work under direct supervision to determine competency. In order to practice medicine in Australia you have to be able to demonstrate your prior learning which in many cases requires more than a university transcript. Beyond that there is also the current issue that Australia is facing in terms of a workforce shortage (not enough jobs) such that the speciality colleges (Royal College of Australia Physicians/Surgeons/Intensive Care etc) are beginning to limit intake each year by making initial entrance steps more difficult and this workforce shortage extends all the way up to consultant positions.

 

[applecider]

Hi,
If you type in "overseas doctor wanting to work in Australia" into Google you should be able to get some more information. In the first page of search results there are links to the Medical Board of Australia, the Australian Medical Council and pages of information for international medical graduates. If you have any specific questions you would like answered, Benn has already proffered to help.