NEW!
Big, big news out of Australia.
The Medical Board of Australia had their annual meeting at the end of April. They made an announcement of a new process to fast track specialist international medical graduates.
We’ve known that the Kruk Review was going to significantly shake up the processes for overseas trained medical practitioners. We have seen some minor reform over the last 6 months which was welcome - albeit limited - but this news from the Medical Board is genuinely exciting.
The Kruk Review recommended the creation of a fast track pathway to specialist registration from specialists trained in comparable countries of training. The news out of the MBA meeting is off the back of this specific recommendation. The new initiative from the MBA will prioritise anaesthetists, obs & gyn, psychiatrists and GPs through a new system which'll sit alongside the existing specialist medical college assessment systems.
The new process will grant upfront specialist registration but with initial conditions on their registration to further safeguard patients whilst the SIMGs transition into the Australian system.
They are planning this system to be in place for December 2024.
Discussions are underway with the medical colleges RANZCP (Psych) , ANZCA (Anaes) , RANZCOG (Obs & Gyn), RACGP , ACCRM (Rural Med). As of the time of writing, only RACGP has commented and it appears they’re not happy. Michelle Wisby writes that “RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins has been left ‘seething’ by the decision, which goes directly against stark warnings about the dangers of bypassing the colleges and their accreditation processes.”
It will be fascinating to see how the other Medical Colleges respond.
I contacted a senior client of mine, a Medical Director FRANZCP of a metropolitan mental health service and asked for their initial comments on this new initiative.
They said “Hopefully things will change. I welcome this. The RANZCP lacks transparency and accountability. They have delayed many assessments so this can only help.”
Watch this space for further news.