Foreign doctor training scheme
Wednesday, 3 November 1999
For immediate release
Dr Ralph Wiles Chairperson
Foreign doctor training scheme does not offer answer for rural GP shortage
The recently announced scheme to offer special training and assistance to foreign doctors provided they are prepared to work in remote areas offers little or no hope of solving the shortage of GPs in rural areas, says the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners.
"To practice as a General Practitioner or indeed as a specialist in any other branch of medicine without supervision, a doctor must become vocationally registered," explained College Chairperson Dr Ralph Wiles. "The standards for Vocational Registration are set by the Medical Council of New Zealand. From 2001, any General Practitioner not vocationally registered will have to practice under supervision.
"The process of training for foreign doctors described by the Minister will certify that they are trained to a similar standard to a medical school graduate with an MBChB degree," Dr Wiles explained. From there, any doctor wanting to enter General Practice goes into a three year programme of training involving two years working in a hospital, and usually a further year in the General Practice Vocational Training Programme. They then sit an examination called Primex, which tests both medical knowledge and things like communication skills and empathy with patients. If they pass that exam there is a further two years of structured GP experience, under supervision of a vocationally registered GP, before they undergo a thorough assessment from a senior practitioner who visits them in their practice.
"Assuming all these steps are completed that doctor then becomes a Fellow of the College (FRNZCGP), which currently is the only qualification recognised by the Medical Council as entitling a GP to Vocational Registration after 2001.