International Resources

Frequently Asked Questions (International Medical Graduates working in Australia):

What is a VMO?

Visiting Medical Officers compliment full time medical specialists and are vital to the Australian Health System. In a number of rural practices VMO’s provide the sole source of assistance to Allied Health staff in the hospital. VMO’s can be on call 24/7, 1 in 2, 1 in 3 and so on. VMO’s are given an on call rate as a minimum and are generally on call whilst still providing a GP service to their practice.

Why Live in Australia?

Recently Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/15/interactive-infographic-of-the-worlds-best-countries.html) rated Australia as the 4th best place on the planet to live. With its diversity and rich multicultural history doctors from all corners of the globe now call Australia home. With the Australian dollar at its current rate and the range of different climates across all states it is easy to find that piece of paradise for you to call home as well!

Where do I practice?

Basically the more remote you are the more that you are entitled to. For example, GP’s working Metro will quite often not be provided with additional incentives such as accommodation, grants, and leave cover and so on. As previously stated the Moratorium will also be decreased relative to your RA category. Work wise you can not relate working in rural and remote regions with working metro. The medical conditions differ drastically and provide unique professional development opportunities.

Salary Expectations

The average or Mean earnings of GP’s in Australia is $A177,883, considerably lower (About 30%) than specialists. GP’s that work in larger Practices, regional and rural locations where GP supply is low obviously have higher earnings. Those GP’s that that are either self employed or share on call and after hours work also have higher incomes.

What Does This Mean:

District of workforce shortage (DWS)

A DWS is an area which the general population’s need for healthcare has no been met. DWS is determined by the Department of Health and Aging and are linked to the provision of Medicare provider numbers ( http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/publishing.nsf/content/work-DWS+Fact+Sheet ). The purpose of DWS evaluation, geographic divisions used by the Australia Bureau of Statistics. In general a location is deemed a DWS if it falls below the national average for the provision of medical services. DWS only applies to medical jobs that need to provide services that attract Medicare rebates.

10 year moratorium

Medicare provider number restrictions ( http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/publishing.nsf/Content/employ-medicare-restrictions ) apply to all overseas trained doctors OTD’s and recently don’t apply for New Zealand Graduates. By restricting the Medicare provider numbers issued to OTD’s to District of Workforce Shortage, the Department aims to achieve an equitable distribution of medical services across Australia.

An exemption from the Medicare provider number restrictions may be granted for locations that have been identified as a DWS. This exemption enables a doctor to be granted a Medicare provider number and bill for services that will attract befits from Medicare. You will need to apply for a DWS preliminary assessment (http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/Publishing.nsf/Content/2DA67EC396BFA9AACA25710800082AEA/$File/PADWS.pdf ) for the position prior to making any job offers to an OTD.

Area of Need (AON)

A large portion of Overseas Trained Doctors will fall into the category known as Area of Need (AoN). Area of Need exists in locations where there is a lack of specific medical practitioners. The Health service creates an AoN position unique to their medical centre. Doctors that do not fall into the ‘comparable pathways’ will fall into the AoN category.

The general rule of thumb for doctors seeking employment in this field is to hold 5+ years of equivalent overseas General Practice experience, English Language Proficiency (IELTS / OET etc) and AMC MCQ as a minimum.

Once your CV has been vetted by the Ochre Recruitment staff and you have been found suitable for an Area of Need position the AoN application process will commence. The first stage in the process is to choose the practice you wish to work in. Generally the application can take 8-12 weeks depending on the number of applications being processed by the relevant State authority. The application will include a Pre Employment Structured Clinical Interview (PESCI) based on your chosen practice. Successful completion of this interview will allow the applicant to work with Conditional Registration at the practice previously chosen as stated on the AoN certificate.

Remoteness Areas (RA)

Recently in Australia RRMA classifications were changed to RA locations which was set by the Australian Standard of Geographical Classification – remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA) systems is a geographical classification system that is used to classify areas of Australia into geographical categories called Remoteness Areas (RA)

RA categories are defined in terms of remoteness – the physical distance of a location from the nearest Urban Centre (access to goods and services) based on population size.

The RA categories are as follows:

  • RA1 – Major cities of Australia
  • RA2 – Inner regional Australia
  • RA3 – Outer Regional Australia
  • RA4 – Remote Australia
  • RA5 – Very Remote Australia

Workforce initiatives from the Department of Health and Ageing are available for categories ranging between RA2 and RA5. The Doctor Connect website provides specific details regarding incentives and programs relevant to each of the RA classifications and can be found on the map locator via ( http://www.health.gov.au/internet/otd/Publishing.nsf/Content/locator ).

Rural Other Medical Practitioners (ROMPS) Program

The ROMPS program provides access to the A1 Medicare rebate to non-vocationally recognised medical practitioners providing general practice services in eligible rural and remote areas. Normally non-vocationally recognised medical practitioners would access the lower A2 Medicare rebate.

To be eligible for this program a doctor must:

  • Be non-vocationally recognised (also know as Other Medical Practitioners); and
  • Agree to express an interest in achieving fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) or Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM)


A doctor must also be providing services in any of the following designated locations:

  • Rural, Remote and metropolitan Area (RRMA) Classification 4-7
  • Defined areas of consideration; or
  • Approved RRMA 3 location which has significant medical workforce shortages (as deemed eligible by the department of Health and Ageing).

Medicare

Medicare Australia is responsible for administering payments and information for health programs such as Medicare, including the provision of Medicare provider numbers. (http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/ )

If you hold General Practice qualifications and or experience from outside Australia you will need to decide no enrolment through either the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). Check the following links to see where you sit;

RACGP Category 1 ( http://www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/specialistpathway ) If you come from Canada, Ireland, The United Kingdom, Singapore or New Zealand check this link to see if you are eligible to practice in Australia.

RACPG Category 2 ( http://www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/specialistpathway ) If you are from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, the UK or the United States check this link to see if you are eligible to practice in Australia.

RACGP Category 3 ( http://www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/specialistpathway ) If you are from Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Turkey or a Member of the RCGP check this link to see if you are eligible to practice in Australia.

Area of Need Pathway (AoN) (http://www.amc.org.au/index.php/img#aon ) If you do not fall into one of the above three categories limited registration (AoN) is available in Australia. You must meet the requirements of the AMC (AMC MCQ), complete an IELTS exam and have a minimum of 5 years overseas General Practice experience before applying.

The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) is Australia’s alternative General Practitioner College and has developed similar pathways to that of the RACGP.

Competent Authority Pathway for General Practice ACRRM ( http://acrrm.org.au/competent-authority-pathway-for-general-practice ) See this link for a more detailed description. ACRRM provides a little more flexibility with work based assessment. After 12 months of supervised practice the doctor can sit for Fellowship of ACRRM. This category is similar to RACGP Cat 2 although countries and qualifications are different.

Specialist pathway ACRRM (http://acrrm.org.au/specialist-pathway-0 ) ACRRM Specialist Pathway is divided into two categories pending the doctors qualifications and experience, Substantially Comparable Pathway and Partially Comparable Pathway. Both pathways have a period of time under supervision but ultimately result in the doctor gaining Fellowship.