If the AMA has its numbers correct, some 56% of all GPs are now IMGs, a statistic which once more raises that question about Australia’s dependency on overseas-trained doctors to keep the doors of its health system open.

The number [*] is included in a new report by the AMA, which says the political push to improve support systems for IMGs in the wake of the landmark Lost in the Labyrinth report more than a decade ago has floundered.

The subtext is that yes, IMGs, we need you, but we will still treat you mean.

The recruitment of overseas doctors is “entrenched and compounding”, fuelled by the desperation to staff rural and outer-metro hospitals and GP practices, it says.