Post grad (general practice/family medicine) in NZ?

[cutejz1982]

Hello respected forum members,

I am an international med graduate from India, currently a permanent resident of Canada. I am currently taking the USMLE to apply for residency in the US.

But i have heard that postgraduation from new zealand is a good option if someone wants to enter the system in canada.Could someone please throw some light on this?any information on this will be highly regarded..
I would like to know the name of the universities in new zealand which offers the postgraduate degree?is it the same residency match process like the US??will my USMLE scores be good for NZ too??how difficult is it being a foreigner to enter the post grad scene in NZ?

thanx!!

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[cutejz1982]

any kind souls out there..pls answer

 

[Ezekiel20]

I am unsure of the technicalities of training in NZ, but here is my understanding on GP training in Aus as an int'l medical graduate (hoping someone who knows for sure can correct me).


Unless you're already qualified in a specialty in another country, you must apply to work in Aus as an intern. You must pass the Aus Medical Council exams before being allowed to work as an intern in the public hospital system.

You can apply for GP training after internship (I think you can apply during your intern year to begin GP training the following year). The duration of GP training is 3 years which includes hospital rotations as well as GP rotations.

However I get the impression that GP training isn't always easy to get into, as GP is a popular career path for local graduates (something like 50% of medical graduates become GPs). So if you don't get a training spot, you can try again the year after, and work as a resident in the meantime (a 'resident' in Australia is not a trainee specialist, but someone who is doing rotations in various specialties after internship, for the purpose of gaining more experience or waiting to re-apply for the training of one's choice).

Once you've finished the 3 year GP training and passed the exams, you're qualified to work as a GP in Australia.


I guess you could then try to make your Aus qualification recognised in Canada, but I know little about how easy this is.


One other thing to point out is that unlike the US (not sure about Canada) where you undertake postgraduate training in a particular hospital or university, postgraduate training in Australia and NZ is done through the relevant college.


For example, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

http://www.racgp.org.au/


or the Royal NZ College of GPs

http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/



If you browse the above website you will find useful answers to your questions.

 

[redshifteffect]

Australian/NZ GP training is recognised in all the provinces in Canada, however there are a few that have a lot less redtape to get into then others.

For example Ontario requires you to be a member of the CFPC, which in turn requires 5 years of GP experience (2 which must be in Canada) to gain membership. Newfoundland and Saskatchewan on the other hand do not require this for full membership. They do require you to write the EE, QE1 and QE2 eventually, but most provinces give you a reasonable amount of time to do so.

In short - if you can get into Australia/NZ to do GP training, it's definitely a back door to return to Canada, but you might not be able to return directly to the province of your choice.