IMG with citizenship moving back to Australia?

[Gracehk]

I am an Australian citizen who moved to Hong Kong at a young age and completed medical school there. Now I am doing my higher physician training (having completed my MRCP) and would like to relocate back to Australia to practice. Would anyone have advice on how best to do that?
Should I:
Complete my training in HK then go through the specialist pathway?
Move to Australia and join as a physician trainee?

I understand that even as a citizen if I didn't graduate from an Australian medical school I will be at significant disadvantage when applying for a job. Is it near impossible to get a training post in my situation or is it still doable? If I were to join as a trainee, would any of my previous training be recognised? And if I were to go through the specialist pathway, what are my odds of a fellowship from HK getting certificated as at least partially comparable by the college of physicians?

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[Domperidone]

Hey, SDN's a predominantly American forum.
So you may be hard up finding an answer to a question as specific as yours.

Have you tried asking the Royal college of physicians itself?
RACP.

there's no PR or citizenship requirements with regards to basic physician training. merely, the large disadvantage you'd have is little to no familiarity with the Australian medical system (unless you had rotated in Australia previously while a student) and no networks or connections with Australian physicians. which you're already aware of.

You'd have to accomplish two things if you choose to be a basic physician trainee (i.e. before subspecializing/doing fellowships)
1. Find a hospital to hire you.
More likely than not it will be a rural one, regional if lucky. It will not likely be in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth, where there's oversaturation of doctors in general. You'd have to apply for a particular state match and contact a hospital directly. depending on state or hospital, apply for a general year (mixed medical/surgical/ED rotations) or if offered/available - BPT positions (e.g. BPT 1, 2, 3). the strictly BPT streams within a hospital tend to be competitive.
2. once you start work at a hospital, and are eligible/meet the deadline, you then contact the hospitals' BPT supervisor, whose approval you need to get 'enrolled' into the BPT program.
3. Also have general registration - another can of worms.

**do refer to the official website for further admission requirements.

If you're aiming for advanced trainee or fellowship positions after Australian Basic Physician training (after the Australian BPT exams) - it's highly, highly competitive. Even locally trained, highly qualified trainees have a hard time obtaining fellowships (anecdotally speaking). At minimum, you'd need strong letters of recommendations and research. You can try to apply. but Australia's in a state of oversupply in city positions (where subspecialties are based). there's been a reported shortage of 500 advanced trainee spots compared to the number of actual applicants.

Again, this is all assuming that Australia recognizes your degree from the particular HK school you attended. And have general registration in Australia to practice (there's different pathways to this - whether AMC exams, etc - see AHPRA - Medical Board of Australia - International medical graduates (IMGs))

You could aim to finish all your training entirely and apply as a consultant. however again, considering the oversupply situation in the cities, you could end up in a rural hospital at least for several years - as a general or internal medicine physician. Not entirely a specialist. I would refer to other threads regarding this, such as one started by CP, which goes into detail about the pathway to this and the full requirements. Try to do a search of this forum.

Disclaimer: I'm a junior doctor - so either go directly to the source (the RACP itself), try CP's thread...or sit and wait to see if someone else from the woodwork replies with appropriate knowledge/experience.

 

[SHR_AU]

I am an Australian citizen who moved to Hong Kong at a young age and completed medical school there. Now I am doing my higher physician training (having completed my MRCP) and would like to relocate back to Australia to practice. Would anyone have advice on how best to do that?
Should I:
Complete my training in HK then go through the specialist pathway?
Move to Australia and join as a physician trainee?

I understand that even as a citizen if I didn't graduate from an Australian medical school I will be at significant disadvantage when applying for a job. Is it near impossible to get a training post in my situation or is it still doable? If I were to join as a trainee, would any of my previous training be recognised? And if I were to go through the specialist pathway, what are my odds of a fellowship from HK getting certificated as at least partially comparable by the college of physicians?

Hi Gracehk,

In today's job market, it'll be easier for you to find a Gen Med registrar position ASAP (accredited or unaccredited) and then join a physician trainee program. Your HK specialist qualification will most likely be deemed partially comparable, and in the end you'll end up working as a Registrar anyway. The job market is good for Gen Med Registrars now, and getting the rotations you need for General Registration will not be challenging as you're go through your training. First, find a job, then apply to AHPRA. With a letter of offer, it'll take approximately 8 to 10 weeks for you to obtain registration from AHPRA.

Specialist pathways for partially comparable doctors is challenging to get jobs, because of the list of criteria given my the specialist college. From here, you'll need to find an employer willing to meet those criteria in order to get limited AHPRA registration. Nightmare scenario for many doctors that went on the specialist pathway, when the standard pathway should have been chosen.

Trying to find a job is hard enough, trying to find a job with more criteria than necessary is almost much more challenging in today's market.

Hope this helps.

Disclosure: I own and operate a recruitment agency assisting doctors find work in Australia.

 

[Domperidone]

I work in today's Australian job market and despite being junior I am on program for privacy I generally dont share which.

Going to clarify this - you must be on RACP or BPT (basic physician training) to even be a gen med reg. It is not like surg where there are unaccredited positions.

I dont dispute that there likely are positions for BPTs but they are UNlikely to be at tertiary site in a large urban centre. Unless you're ver lucky. Rural and Regional yes. Oodles of jobs. Not suitable for everyone.

Will re-emphasize this point - please for any imgs following, refer to racp website and email them directly to clarify enrollment policy.