Residency training in australia

[RMT]

Good day,

I recently graduated from medical school here in the Philippines, and would like to pursue residency training in Australia. Programs I am interested in, include (in order of preference): Ob-Gyn, Internal Medicine, Radiology or Pathology. I was looking thru doctorconnect.gov.au and was linked to IMET webpage, only its under construction at this time.
Currently, Im a bit confused on how to start my application process, who to contact, e.t.c. Do I have to take the AMC exams first before anything? Are there centers here in Manila to take them (like the USMLE) or would i need to travel? How about visa
requirements? what class do i need to apply for? Do i need to have a medical license first from the philippines? I do have so many other questions, but I would really appreciate it if anyone could guide me on the steps/options i need to take.

Looking forward to your response.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RMT]

Help anyone?

 

[Totallyspies]

Well as far as I know it's a long process unlike the USMLE. You cannot join in any residency training program without PR/ aus citizenship. And usually for a foreign medical school graduate, you will have to go through JHO/ PHO first. Apart from this, you have to pass both AMC exams and one year supervised training. Check out AMC's website for more information regarding the AMC exams and centers for the exams.

 

[Kayei]

I think it's close to impossible right now. Apparently the government there thought there was a doctor shortage, so they opened up more medical school positions, but did not make more residency training programs. Therefore, there is a back log of interns waiting to advance to registrar and advanced training. I have a friend here who repeated intern year 3 times before placing in an actual res program. and he was Australian! Of course, any spots that ARE available will go to Aussies first and intl's 2nd.
Good luck!

 

[RMT]

thanks for your response.

I think i understand the situation. So what do you think my other options should be?

by the way, how much is the minimum wage for doctors in oz?

 

[Juano]

Dear RMT, have you considered working in Australia as a GP?

 

[RMT]

Dear RMT, have you considered working in Australia as a GP?

I have thought about it, but wouldnt previous job experience be a factor? considering that i just recently graduated from med school....what are my chances?

 

[johnnyb255]

Might want to check out the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association website- http://www.adtoa.org/

From what I understand you'd be applying for a HMO position in an 'Area of Need', which is usually a rural location.

 

[Purifyer]

I don't think its as negative as the other posters make it seem. (1) I think you have 2 years before the first wave of the medical student tsunami hits (ie. before the first interns start working)

(2) Australasian system is different to the American system. There is nothing unusual about spending 3 years as an 'intern' as Kayei suggested. For entry into surgery specialities you have to spend at least 2 years as a house surgeon ('intern' equivalent). For medicine again it is at least 2 perhaps 3 I'm not sure.

(3) I knew a lovely phillipines grad who was trying to get into O&G here [sorry I am no longer in contact with her]. She was officially a MOSS or something (can't remember the title, essentially above house officer/surgeon but below registrar ). In my opinion, far more competent than the useless runt of a registrar we had. Unfortunately she was being shafted and seemed stuck as a MOSS for a few years at least. [edit she was in a different situation to you as she had completed some/much of her O&G training already - ie. in phillipines/fiji she was doing her own casearians)

So I think it's certainly possible to go to australia, but you would have to be prepared to waste at least several years (more than your australian counterparts ie. perhaps 4-7 years after coming to oz you may become a reg with another 4-5 years as an O&G reg before becomming consultant*) before getting into a training programme. This isn't a huge 'waste' as you still obviously get paid. Your first year would most likely be in the middle of nowhere though.

*NB I have no idea about the length of O&G training. I presume its ~4 years.

Regarding becomming a GP - you can't without going through the training (I presume this is obvious). Again I believe for australians its at least 2 years as house officer then 1 year gp reg.

I think you should follow your dream, if you want O&G get it don't 'settle' for a slightly easier speciality

 

[RMT]

thanks for your input.

i did check the O&G college webpage, and training is about 6 yrs. I was also told that after passing the AMC, i also need to complete 1 year of supervised training before anybody would consider me for anything....so my question is.....this one year of internship, am i going to be paid? and how much am i looking at here? coz my parents are already sick an tired of supporting me...and i dont blame them, they are getting old

 

[johnnyb255]

Probably should get in contact with that association I listed above or some contact details on the government's website that you found for definite, up to date responses.

I'm just assuming but I'd think that intern year is paid, just like our intern years are.

 

[RMT]

thanks........
i did check the webpage you suggested, unfortunately its not been updated in a while.

Do u guys think i should just do my training in US instead?
by the way, whats the income potential of an intern in australia?

 

[Purifyer]

Dont base your future on the earning potential of the almighty intern

I dont know about oz.. I think it starts ~40k AUS but with overtime etc its more like 50-60k (dont take my word on this).

The US is a better option in some regards - if you go there, you know you will graduate as a consultant in a certain time frame... whereas in oz its a completely different story.

but with the US you must consider the possibility you will have to return to the phillipines for 2 years after you finish your residency (ie. j1 visa)

with the US also you will have to f*ck around with the USMLE and probably waste a year or so studying/sitting it (I dont know if you also need the USMLE to enter oz so if you do just ignore this).

I dont think ob/gyn is very competitive in the US (or oz) so... good luck to you.

Oh one thing - I think this '6 years' you are talking about might be from graduating med school? Sounds a bit too long to be an ob/gyn reg considering most surgical specialities are only 7 years total from graduation. I dont know though.

 

[gorgkon]

Hi everyone..am a greek guy who has just graduated from a university in Italy..so i have some questions about doing the residency in Australia
1)do i have to do the AMS and clinical tests?
2)once i pass the AMS,how long should i wait for the clinical examination?(cause i heard that sometimes u have to wait like 9-12 months)

thx everybody

 

[Annyy90]

Hi evryone
Does usmle step 2 ck allows any exemption from amc exams
Moreover , having done 4yrs residency in ob/gyn in Acgme accredited program make things easier to get residency in australia?

 

[Domperidone]

This thread's over 10 years old.
Try to avoid reviving old threads - mainly because the posters are likely long gone.
Also, much of the time the information is obsolete.

The answer is No.
Another country's exam doesn't exempt you.
USMLEs are not a recognized exam in Australia.

With regards to having done 4 years of residency in the US...
And not yet become an attending?
It doesn't give you any extra credit if that's what you're after.

Roughly, the answer is Yes and No as it whether it will help you.
The experience will help you. but you still have to do further hospitalist years before you can apply for OBGYN training.

Also, please refer to the royal college of obstetrics & gyne.
RANZCOG WEBSITE - Applying.
I would suggest that you email them directly for advice, seeing as I'm a random on the internet.

Very generally, obgyn is incredibly competitive to get into for training. (also getting hard to get attending positions after too) Considering the abundance of applicants (Australian ones) each year, they'll likely consider locally trained grads over you. Unless you have like..graduated from Harvard with 20 journal articles in NEJM or something, then did residency at Mass gen.

but they'll be looking for accumulated Australian experience and Australian referees who can vouch for you. Australian obgyn's have their own guidelines and standards, while similar to the US, they're not going to be identical.

They will probably probe into why you left residency in the US. If you were struggling through a residency in the US for instance, or had issues come up forcing you to leave, that's not likely going to make you look great. I'm not sure how moving to a completely different country and system aids in training either, it's just running away to a new set of problems. The country isn't new to problematic IMGs (although rare, and isolated, the headlines are catchy), they'll be wary of them in highly competitive fields that can choose who they take.

Simply put, there's no shortage of applicants for Obgyn training, they're not desperate to take trainees.
It's easier to 'hire who they know' because they're proven to be reliable. They'd also prefer to ensure their domestic grads have jobs after all the investment their own government put into training them. Residencies also typically want to mold their own trainees to their own standards.

"residency in Australia", as fyi
is not like residency in the US.
see: Becoming a Doctor.
No one goes directly into vocational training after med school.
Everyone does at least a couple (or a few) years of 'hospitalist' training.
It goes med school --> "residency" or hospitalist rotations --> registrar training (which is vocational training).
(a registrar is not equivalent to PGY1 or PGY2 residency in the US, this such a different system).

In other words, the royal colleges actually expect all candidates applying for say, Obgyn, to have had at least 1-2 years of work experience in obgyn. with how competitive things are, you'd have to be PGY4-5 to even have enough points or experience and research to even apply. With the Australian system, the expectation is actually that you're already partly trained in Obgyn before they even consider you. So...even with some American obgyn experience, it doesn't bring you that much ahead of Australian applicants.