Medical College - Dr Overseas Transfer from Overseas to Oz

Wilson Wallace on 28/08/2023 - 17:48
Last edited 28/08/2023 - 19:18 by 1 other user

Hey all, not sure if this the correct place to discuss but hopefully I come across people who have had experience with this situation.

My partner who is an Australian Citizen, born here but moved overseas at the age of 18. She completed her medical degree and underwent further medical training as an OB GYN which she has completed. She's a registered Gyno overseas however, the country she trained in uses the American system. Example, she's had 4 years of specialist training rather than the 5 years like Oz. When she arrived in Australia, she was granted a 2 year temporary registration and works as a O&G registrar. After the 2 years which expires early next year, she will need to apply to the college, and they will determine if she can still be a doctor or require further training. After the 2 years is over, I am assuming she would have had 6 years of training and experience.

What I'd like to know, why would they give her a temp registration, allow her to conduct surgery on her own, deliver baby's and do everything that a fully qualified OB-GYN to only tell her you need to do more training or they won't accept her? It's like, "come work for us, fill our system and when your time is up you can f right off"..

Does anyone know of anyone, or you were an international who tried to migrate with your medical degree, or is even a doctor with such exposure around this?

Thanks all!

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  datafellows on 28/08/2023 - 18:08

  +1

  Registrar should work under senior medical officers supervision and not alone. I would think that if your partner is qualified there should be no problem to continue to work here.

  • 

    Wilson Wallace on 28/08/2023 - 18:58

    She works under a mentor / consultant. There are times she does surgeries alone. She did tell me her supervisor allows her to do most of the work alone.

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  SydStrand on 28/08/2023 - 18:12

  +2

  What id like to know, why would they give her a temp registration, allow her to conduct surgery on her own, deliver baby's and do evrything that a fully qualified OB-GYN to only tell her you need to do more training or they won't accept her? It's like, "come work for us, fill our system and when your time is up you can f right off"..

  These are questions you should have asked two years ago. Firstly, those temporary registrations have all sorts of asterisks, like requiring a supervisor, so no, she's not just 'conducting surgery on her own' straight off the boat. The whole point of the college application is to ensure she can work competently and consistently within the local system, and it's not like local registrars are guaranteed to pass, so there's nothing unfair here. This is just a skill check, otherwise you'll have randoms from the University of American Samoa getting guaranteed qualification with zero real vetting, simply after punching in for two years.

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  ranmalynx on 28/08/2023 - 18:14

  Ask here as well —> https://old.reddit.com/r/ausjdocs/
  I don't think there are a lot of Ozbargainers who can answer your question.

  • 

    theHMASfriendship on 28/08/2023 - 19:27

    +3

    I’m somewhat of a doctor of love if that helps

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  nfr on 28/08/2023 - 19:58

  +1

  What I'd like to know, why would they give her a temp registration, allow her to conduct surgery on her own, deliver baby's and do everything that a fully qualified OB-GYN to only tell her you need to do more training or they won't accept her?

  Because she has not completed her training in Australia. Typically an overseas doctor need to redo specialist training and exams to get Australian fellowship. Until then you work as a doctor in training even if you are a specialist in the US.

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  revacious on 28/08/2023 - 21:05

  +1

  I have seen and worked with several overseas trained fully qualified doctors who have been employed as registrars or fellows in the public hospital system. Most end up getting their Australian fellowship without issues after jumping through a few hoops. Some are just never able to pass the Australian fellowship exams and either return to their home country to practice or continue to work as registrars. This is a quality assurance process - would you trust a doctor from a 3rd world country with a sub-par education? If she does surgeries unsupervised (theoretically she shouldn't be) the liability is with the consultant obgyn tasked with supervising her. The system is fair. If anything, the standards are too low for certain medical specialties (GP in particular).

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  mskeggs on 28/08/2023 - 22:06

  +1

  Bear in mind that specialities in Australia are a closed shop. You don’t get admitted because you have met the criteria, you get admitted if you are in the top 24 (or other number set by the relevant college based on how much competition current specialists feel the field can accommodate without any loss of/good growth in income) of however many who applied that year.

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  Protractor on 13/09/2023 - 18:20

  If it's OK with you OP we like to verify that ppl called medical practitioners, can well, do just that.
  Due dilligence
  Otherwise your good wife may just practise as per the train wreck US health system.
  Oils aint oils, Sol.

  And,for all we ( or the approval authorities) know, your wife may have only treated a handful of patients in the USA, or specialised in a narrow field, eg treated things we rarely need in Australia. Like school massacre victims. I reckon it's a bloody good policy,myself.
  There's many an instance of dodgy and fake OS Drs.