International doctors unable to work in Australia despite job offers

Australian health leaders called for “streamlining” the complex registration process for foreign-trained doctors in Australia as they are currently unable to work in the country because of the “broken system,” The Guardian reported.

The workforce crisis in the health sector is yet to be resolved as hundreds of international doctors living in Australia have been unable to work due to a rigorous registration process for international medical graduates (IMGs), the news outlet said.

Concerns of health experts

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Omar Khorshid, told The Guardian that the process for IMG registration in Australia was complicated because the issues depend on whether an applicant doctor was a specialist or a junior doctor.

More specifically, Khorshid described the process for specialist approval as “rigorous, expensive, and it takes a long time.”

Unfortunately, many doctors with limited registrations who cannot meet various regulatory requirements will be forced to cease to practice and, in some cases, leave the country, according to Khorshid.

The AMA President told The Guardian that while there is a need to set the bar high for specialists seeking accreditation in Australia, the process must be improved, and more support should be given to the IMGs to join the health sector.

“No one has put enough attention on this, and despite it being raised with the health department and the minister by us over the last year or so and we haven’t seen any change,” Khorshid said. “And now that we’re in this desperate situation, it just seems so silly.”

Additionally, Khorshid also demanded that the government simplifies the registration process so doctors would not see this “broken system“ as a barrier to joining the Australian workforce.

Struggles of international doctors

Spanish-trained doctor Paula Garcia told Guardian Australia she felt frustrated with the registration process.

Despite being offered a job at the Prince Alfred Hospital in her specialist field of fetal ultrasound, she was still unable to gain registration because of the registration process, The Guardian reported. “It feels broken, it feels discriminatory,” she said.

Meanwhile, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners President Karen Price told The Guardian that the issue was problematic, especially for those in regional areas that faced severe workforce shortages. She added that the process was lengthy, even for countries like the United Kingdom.            

“For some other countries which have to go through a different process they take even longer and it costs a lot of money, so it’s really a bit of a barrier and right now, we need to be looking at streamlining red tape not making more,” Price told The Guardian.

Following the issue, Health Minister Mark Butler told The Guardian that he had already sought advice to hasten the registration process for doctors in Australia.

Additionally, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHPRA), which oversees the registration and accreditation in Australia, told The Guardian that the process is not simply a “tick-box exercise.”

“Public safety is our priority,” an AHPRA spokesperson told the media outlet. “We are part of a system of national accreditation and regulation that ensures Australia’s more than 825,000 registered health practitioners, including international medical graduates are suitably trained, qualified and safe to practice.”

The Guardian also reported that a Department of Health spokesperson was already looking at the issue.

“In response to concerns raised by the AMA on this issue, the department has been in discussions with the AMA, the board and the AMC (Australian Medical Council) to examine the barriers experienced by this group of IMGs and to identify opportunities for improve the system while maintaining quality and safety measures within registration requirements,” the department told The Guardian.

“The department is continuing to work closely with stakeholders, including state and territory governments, to ensure eligible IMGs have an efficient pathway to registration and employment,” it added.