Overseas anaesthetists, psychiatrists offered fast-track specialist registration — four ‘priority’ specialties are next
The medical colleges in Australia have slammed the system set up to fill medical workforce holes.
Overseas psychiatrists and anaesthetists have been added to the Medical Board of Australia’s controversial fast-track pathway allowing them to register as specialists without any assessment by the medical colleges.
The pathway was created last October with GPs holding qualifications from New Zealand, Ireland and the UK able to apply.
Sold by both the board and Australia’s health ministers as a way to fix workforce shortages, the doctors work under six months’ supervision before being allowed to work unsupervised.
Anaesthetists with a Fellowship of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland are eligible for the pathway, along with those with a Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in the UK.
