Chinese pathologist, Specialist Pathway-AON

[jerry19800218]

I am a pathologist,and have been practising in China for ten years. I got my certificate of medical practitioner qulification in 2009 and registrated as a pathologist in the same year. 4 years later,in 2013 I passed national examination orgnized by the Chinese government departments and obtained qualification level of speciality and technology in pathology. I had also got a fellowship of Chinese Society of Pathology.

What I want to know is two things below:

wether I can apply for assessment of specialist pathway-AON?

How many vacancies approximately are there in Australia

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[txm88]

The AON and specialist pathway are two separate pathways to eventually obtain fellowship (specialist registration) in Australia.

The specialist pathway is more common, and they compare your training and experience to the Australian trained pathologist. You will need to submit a lot of paperwork to the RCPA regarding your training, and experience. You will then be asked to attend for an interview where they assess your experience further. There are three possible outcomes: 1) substantially comparable (usually given to UK docs), 2) partially comparable and 3) not comparable. I imagine you would be sitting in either partially comparable or not comparable.

If you are assessed as either partially comparable or substantially comparable, you will have the opportunity to apply for jobs. Be aware that the RCPA is NOT responsible for this. You are responsible for finding your own jobs. They are usually advertised online but there are also medical recruitment agencies that may be able to sort this out for you. Once you find the job, you can apply for limited registration where you work in a specialist role for a period of time. This is up to 12 months for substantially comparable, and up to 36 months for partially comparable. You will get review from your colleages and also have to sit the RCPA fellowship exams. Then after this period, you can obtain FRCPA and practice as a specialist in Australia.

The AON is another pathway. I am not too sure about this but I am quite sure the initial application is quite similar where they assess your current training and see if it is comparable to Australian or not.

Either pathway is not an easy task. Prepare your wallet and be prepared for a lot of paperwork and visa issues. The medical board/RCPA won't be able to help you with that, they are only there to assess your knowledge.

You definitely need to look at the RCPA website for the best information. All the best

 

[jp123ok]

I have heard that pathology in China is very lucrative jerry19800218, why do you want to come to Australia?

The job market for pathologists in Australia is quite poor at the moment. Many newly graduated locally trained pathologists and experienced foreign trained pathologists are having a hard time finding work in the major cities.

txm88's description is quite accurate, most foreign trained pathologists who want to obtain a Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) fellowship are required to do at least 1-2 years of additional training and they then have to sit multiple exams. I know one pathologist from India who has been unable to find a job in Melbourne after completing two years of additional training and obtaining her fellowship. Please be aware that the RCPA exams are brutal; most people fail one or more of them. I don't know how they compare to the Chinese exams but they are much harder than the US board exams (I have done both the Australian and US exams).

Finding an area of need position and applying under the AON pathway would potentially allow you to work as a consultant pathologist faster (providing that the RCPA allows you to do this) but AON positions are extremely rare unless you are willing to work in a regional lab. Working in a regional lab is dangerous since you have few colleagues to show cases to. Also, it is very difficult to successfully complete the RCPA exams when you are studying on your own. I know a US trained pathologist who came to Australia and worked at a regional lab and was unable to complete the college exams over a number of years. His supervisor fired him (because of all the exam failures) and he was required to work as a registrar for a year in order to get his RCPA fellowship.

 

[jerry19800218]

I have heard that pathology in China is very lucrative jerry19800218, why do you want to come to Australia?

The job market for pathologists in Australia is quite poor at the moment. Many newly graduated locally trained pathologists and experienced foreign trained pathologists are having a hard time finding work in the major cities.

txm88's description is quite accurate, most foreign trained pathologists who want to obtain a Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) fellowship are required to do at least 1-2 years of additional training and they then have to sit multiple exams. I know one pathologist from India who has been unable to find a job in Melbourne after completing two years of additional training and obtaining her fellowship. Please be aware that the RCPA exams are brutal; most people fail one or more of them. I don't know how they compare to the Chinese exams but they are much harder than the US board exams (I have done both the Australian and US exams).

Finding an area of need position and applying under the AON pathway would potentially allow you to work as a consultant pathologist faster (providing that the RCPA allows you to do this) but AON positions are extremely rare unless you are willing to work in a regional lab. Working in a regional lab is dangerous since you have few colleagues to show cases to. Also, it is very difficult to successfully complete the RCPA exams when you are studying on your own. I know a US trained pathologist who came to Australia and worked at a regional lab and was unable to complete the college exams over a number of years. His supervisor fired him (because of all the exam failures) and he was required to work as a registrar for a year in order to get his RCPA fellowship.

I am jerry ，a pathologist of China，thank you for your helpful reply. I have practiced as a pathologist in China for 10 year. You know，without the illegal money， the salary of Doctors here is low. But the patients are too much in my hospital , I have to finish about 150 pathology reports and 60 frozen pathology reports. How about your job situation？

My email and facebook messenger is , Its my pleasure you can accept me as you friend.

Thank you!

 

[jp123ok]

Hi Jerry, if you are doing 150 pathology reports and 60 frozen pathology reports per day then I can understand why you want to leave China. I would suggest that you consider New Zealand instead of Australia as there is a higher demand for Pathologists in that country and the lifestyle is similar. Also, try contacting recruitment companies since they may be able to assist you in the move. Pathology jobs are posted on the RCPA website.