U.S. docs in New Zealand (or Australia?)

[Hornet871]

Hello, everyone (or should I say, "G'day, mates"? Sorry, I had to). I'm an American doc living here in these United States, dissatisfied with the prospect of living under another Bush reign of terror.

I have heard - though not had confirmed - that is easy for American docs to up and move to New Zealand, practising there without having to go through residency (aka "house job") all over again.

Does anyone know what the requirements are for a U.S. doc to practise in New Zealand (or even Aussieland, if possible)? What kind of salaries do doctors make there, specifically, Emergency Medicine docs?

Would appreciate any input from any of you folks down under. I visited Australia and NZ seven years ago and fell in love with both countries.


the HORNET


"No one, almost NO ONE, says 'g'day mate' in Australia."
-Pete, my Aussie friend, in 1997.

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[sjkpark]

Hello, everyone (or should I say, "G'day, mates"? Sorry, I had to). I'm an American doc living here in these United States, dissatisfied with the prospect of living under another Bush reign of terror.

I have heard - though not had confirmed - that is easy for American docs to up and move to New Zealand, practising there without having to go through residency (aka "house job") all over again.

Does anyone know what the requirements are for a U.S. doc to practise in New Zealand (or even Aussieland, if possible)? What kind of salaries do doctors make there, specifically, Emergency Medicine docs?

Would appreciate any input from any of you folks down under. I visited Australia and NZ seven years ago and fell in love with both countries.


the HORNET


"No one, almost NO ONE, says 'g'day mate' in Australia."
-Pete, my Aussie friend, in 1997.

I'm not going to give any immigration advice here, the definitive source for you is www.mcnz.org.nz. Don't trust anyone other than this website.

I don't think you'll be able to get full registration as EM doc, because US EM training is shorter than NZ EM training (2 years house surgeon + 5 years of EM training). However, EDs are heavily staffed by MOSS (Medical Officers of Special Scale) who have relevant experience but for some reason don't have EM specialty qualification. As an EM MOSS I think you're looking at slightly more than 100K, which is not too bad considering junior consultants in public hospital make 110-140K. Again, not my specialty. If you want to make lots of money as a doctor, I suggest you investigate another country.

There's another ED opening in Auckland region, at Waitakere Hospital. You can enquire about that position, www.waitematadhb.govt.nz, they may be able to direct you to the right places. I did my runs at another Waitemata hospital (North Shore Hospital) and will probably apply for house job there. Wonderful place to work and live, close to beaches and walking tracts.

There's a loophole called temporary registration, which I don't know a lot about, but heaps of foreign docs use it to come and work in this country. I suggest you write to MCNZ, explain your situation & qualification, and ask what kind of registration you are eligible for.