No - not as an attending.
Look, there are 3 ways that you can get licensed
initially in Australia. 1) Standard Pathway, 2) Specialist Pathway and 3) Competent Authority Pathway (which is only available to a few countries including the USA).
The standard pathway includes taking the AMC exams. These are written and orals and are similar to our USMLEs. The difference in Australia, however, is that no local graduates are required to take these exams for licensure (unlike in the USA where everyone is required to take the USMLEs). The wait time to take the AMC exams can be 2-3 years.
The specialist pathway is for foreign doctors who have completed their training. For USA trained doctors, this means have attained Board certification. You then apply to the Aussie "College" for that specialty. In general, there will be a 1-2 year supervision requirement and the need to sit their exams (like our Board certification exams). You are eligible to get a limited license to practice in that specialty while completing the requirements, which must be done in 4 years. If you go the specialist pathway, you are limited to only practicing your specialty. If you do not complete the requirements in 4 years, you cannot renew your license. There is substantial cost going through this pathway - for the RACS (College of Surgeons) - it is nearly $50k by the time it is all done.
The competent authority pathway is for people who come from countries that have similar medical education. Each countries conditions are different - the USA requirement is that you must have completed 2 years in an ACGME approved training program. If you go through the competent authority pathway, you get a limited license for a year and can apply for the AMC certificate at that time. You can then get general registration. However, if you are a permanent resident, you MUST either be in a program that leads to specialist recognition in Australia or have applied for specialist recognition from your training overseas in order to attract a "rebate" from medicare. If you are not in a training program or are a recognised specialist, you cannot get a medicare provider number.
If all of this sounds confusing - it is. It is very convoluted with multiple organisations, overlapping paperwork, changing rules, etc.Indeed, we have not discussed the Moratorium on provider numbers, which adds additional bureaucracy..
The bottom line for American med school graduates, however, is that you need 2 years in the USA in an ACGME approved program to be eligible for the competent authority pathway. The only other way (aside from completing your training in the USA and applying after you're Board certified) is the standard pathway, which requires you to take exams that have a 2-3 year wait to complete (during which time, you may as well have done your training in the USA)..
You need to look at the requirements for IMGs at the following websites:
http://www.medicalboard.gov.au/
http://www.doctorconnect.gov.au
Good luck.
