RACGP set to bolster IMG supervision standards
A MOTION calling for the RACGP to further develop standards for the supervision of IMGs has been unanimously passed this morning at the college’s GP12 conference on the Gold Coast.
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IMG
The following articles have the tag IMG
Support mounts for embargo on IMGs
DOCTORS have called on the government to place an embargo on new international medical graduates entering Australia until it provides adequate support during their practice, training and accreditation.
IMGs reject claims of higher board complaints
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates (IMGs) have rejected the findings of a study indicating international graduates are more likely than their Australian-trained counterparts to attract complaints and adverse findings.
RACGP delays African GP’s rural relocation
Despite spending about $400,000 building a new house and upgrading the local GP surgery, residents of a small NSW town are still not convinced a Botswanian doctor will be allowed to practise there.
Find another solution, IMG importation is not the answer: RDAA
RURAL doctors have called on state and federal governments to create a national, advanced rural training pathway instead of relying on IMGs as a policy solution to solve workforce shortages.
AMC exam alternative to be piloted
INTERNATIONAL Medical Graduates (IMGs) practising in rural and remote regions will now be offered an alternative to the AMC’s one-off clinical exam.
IMGs may be forced to return
A SHORTAGE of training places and uncertainty regarding achievement of residency may force international medical students (IMGs) to head back overseas, a leading Australian academic has warned.
Wrongly accused IMG happy to come back for good
DR MOHAMED Haneef, the Queensland doctor wrongly accused of aiding terrorists, will return to Australia next month and may stay for good, according to media reports. Dr Haneef is due to arrive in December for a two-day mediation session as one of the final steps in his bid to secure a compensation payout over the handling of his case. The Gold Coast Hospital registrar was held in custody for 12 days in July 2007, after his mobile phone SIM card was linked to a terrorist attack in Britain earlier that year. He was charged with recklessly ...
IMG battle for college voting rights crushed
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates (IMGs) have been left disappointed by a failed bid to secure a voice in the future of the RACGP. A motion to amend the college constitution to permit associate members – which include many IMGs – to vote was defeated at the annual general meeting last week, 183 votes to 40. The outcome ends a two-year campaign begun by Queensland GP Dr Diamond Hira. As associate members, IMGs will continue to have to either attain RACGP fellowship or gain five years’ experience in Australian general practice before being eligible to vote. Dr Susan ...
IMGs abandon jobs due to interview delay
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates are turning their backs on Australian general practices as delays for compulsory pre-employment interviews blow out to six months in some areas. In Victoria, two medical practice groups have been trying to secure a pre-employment structured clinical interview (PESCI) for about 14 IMGs seeking to work in their practices. Completion of the interview is required by the Medical Board of Australia before an IMG can be registered. The measure was introduced in 2008, but waiting times for PESCIs have ballooned after the introduction of the national registration process. Each state has different PESCI ...
IMGs abandon jobs due to interview delay
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates are turning their backs on Australian general practices as delays for compulsory pre-employment interviews blow out to six months in some areas. In Victoria, two medical practice groups have been trying to secure a pre-employment structured clinical interview (PESCI) for about 14 IMGs seeking to work in their practices. Completion of the interview is required by the Medical Board of Australia before an IMG can be registered. The measure was introduced in 2008, but waiting times for PESCIs have ballooned after the introduction of the national registration process. Each state has different PESCI ...
Fears Patel case could spark IMG backlash
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates (IMGs) have warned of a potential backlash against foreign doctors, following the jailing of disgraced surgeon Jayant Patel. The former director of surgery at Bundaberg Base Hospital was sentenced to seven years jail for the manslaughter of three patients and for causing grievous bodily harm to a fourth. In one case, a patient bled to death after an oesophagectomy performed by Mr Patel. In another case, Mr Patel removed a patient’s bowel despite biopsies indicating it was free of cancer. The man now requires a permanent ileostomy bag. The court heard that Mr Patel ...
GPs accuse Govt of playing favourites with super clinic
THE Federal Government has been accused of double standards, granting concessions to a Queensland GP super clinic that it did not previously afford to a local practice. The $2.5 million Strathpine GP Super Clinic, located on the northern outskirts of Brisbane, opened in January this year and has been granted four District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) positions despite the area itself not being classed as one of workforce shortage. The concessions allow the super clinic to recruit international medical graduate (IMG) GPs, who can only work in areas of workforce shortage under the rules of the 10-year ...
Rural docs urged to tap third VR pathway
AS deadlines loom for applications for the 2011 GP vocational training intake, rural-based junior doctors and international medical graduates (IMGs) have been encouraged to consider an alternative pathway to ACRRM or RACGP fellowship. Funded by the Commonwealth and run independently of the Australian General Practice Training program, the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS) offers vocational training in rural and remote settings for doctors already committed to working in the bush. It is being touted as a viable alternative for rural doctors, with its annual intake increasing from 15 places in 2010 to 22 in 2011. While ...
Call for national IMG support scheme
A NATIONAL scheme is needed to provide international medical graduates with greater mentoring, support, and continuing professional development, according to the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association (ADTOA). The latest call comes as pressure mounts on the Government to scrap the controversial 10-year moratorium that forces IMGs to work in rural and remote areas. So far the AMA, RDAA and the RACGP have all voiced opposition to the scheme. ADTOA vice-president Dr Susan Douglas said rather than forcing IMGs to work in rural locations, the Federal Government should instead focus efforts on retaining and supporting those who ...
Call for end to 10-year IMG rule
PROFESSIONAL bodies and workforce agencies have clashed over fresh calls to scrap the 10-year moratorium for international medical graduates (IMGs). The AMA last week called for the controversial moratorium to be dismantled; however, Rural Health Workforce Australia has raised concerns that if the policy was abandoned, many rural and remote communities would lose their GPs. Under the current Health Insurance Act 1973, IMGs must work in designated areas of need for up to 10 years if they are to gain access to a Medicare provider number. IMGs make up an estimated 41% of the rural workforce. ...
Moratorium lift could prompt flood of NZ doctors
LEGISLATION, expected to be passed in April exempting New Zealand-born doctors from Australia’s 10-year rural moratorium for international medical graduates could lead to a flood of doctors crossing the Tasman, an expert is warning. Under the current Health Insurance Act 1973, IMGs must work in designated areas of need for 10 years if they are to gain access to a Medicare provider number. However amendments to this law will effectively lift this requirement for doctors that are New Zealand citizens or residents who obtained their first medical degree from an Australian or New Zealand medical school. ...
RACGP accused of ‘unfair’ IMG assessments
INTERNATIONAL medical graduates (IMGs) have called for an independent inquiry into the RACGP’s role in assessing their qualifications amid accusations of inconsistencies in college assessment processes. The request follows the recent publicity over the case of ACT-based Canadian IMG Dr Susan Douglas, who had her pre-1992 qualifications rejected for fellowship by the college and has since had her Medicare provider number revoked for failing to attain her FRACGP. The RACGP only recognises Canadian family medicine qualifications completed from 1992 as being equivalent to FRACGP. However, the Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association and Dr Douglas, who completed ...
GP regains provider number
AN IMG who gained national media attention after her Medicare provider number was revoked has been told she may regain access to MBS rebates. Canadian Dr Susan Douglas, a GP working in a designated area of need and also a senior lecturer in general practice at ANU, recently had her provider number cancelled due to an expired visa, despite having attained residency in August 2008 ( MO , online, 9 October ). Dr Douglas complained to Medicare that she had not been informed of the requirements for IMG permanent residents to claim MBS rebates. She told ...
Holistic approach inspires GP of the Year
A PASSIONATE international medical graduate who has expanded medical services and training in his rural NSW community has been named RACGP GP of the Year at the college's annual conference in Perth. Wagga Wagga-based GP Dr Ayman Shenouda (pictured), who emigrated from Egypt in 1992, said he was overwhelmed by the honour, which recognises outstanding service to the community and commitment to ongoing training and professional development. Dr Shenouda told MO he initially started surgical training and had not planned to pursue a career in general practice, but gravitated towards the profession in search of ...
Overseas-trained doc challenges RACGP over fellowship rejection
THE RACGP’s international medical graduate assessment and accreditation process has been called into question by a Canadian-trained doctor, who was told an appeal against the rejection of her fellowship application was pointless. Dr Susan Douglas – a Canadian family doctor for 15 years and currently senior lecturer in general practice at the Australian National University – has drawn up a statutory declaration detailing her experiences. She alleges the RACGP censor-in-chief told her while she was entitled to appeal, it “won’t make any difference”. Currently, the college deems Dr Douglas’s Canadian Certificate in Family Practice equivalent to an ...
Govt refuses doctor’s visa
THE immigration department has defended its decision to refuse a permanent residency visa to a German doctor on the grounds that his son, who has Down syndrome, represents a significant ongoing cost to the community. Dr Bernhard Moeller, a specialist physician working in the Victorian community of Horsham for the past two years, now faces the prospect of returning to Germany in 2010 when his temporary visa expires. The decision comes at a time of significant doctor shortages with Australia becoming increasingly reliant on international medical graduates (IMGs) to plug workforce gaps. As MO went to ...
Members may desert RACGP over hardline
FRUSTRATED international medical graduates may soon abandon the RACGP with the federal government now indicating it will approve a submission by ACRRM to provide an alternative assessment pathway for GPs entering Australia. The warning, from Queensland-based international medical graduate (IMG) Dr Viney Joshi, follows the RACGP’s recent rejection of calls for an independent review of assessment processes for overseas graduates and requests for IMG associate members to be granted voting rights. According to Dr Joshi, the ‘post-Patel’ era had resulted in tougher standards and assessment processes being applied to IMG candidates applying for FRACGP, compared to Australian ...
Government owes overseas-trained docs a simpler system
AUSTRALIA has an ethical responsibility to overhaul its registration and accreditation processes for international medical graduates, according to a GP academic who has fallen foul of the system. Writing in People and Place , a journal published by Monash University, Dr Susan Douglas, an overseas-trained doctor and Australian National University (ANU) senior lecturer, said existing processes were fragmented and full of “inefficient bureaucracy” that greatly disadvantaged IMGs. Despite lecturing in general practice at ANU since moving to Australia in May 2006, she is still unable to work as a GP. “Once a country has established ...