Qualified specialist physicians in general internal medicine and medical subspecialities are sought for full time permanent, fixed term and locum contract jobs in New Zealand. If the prospect of working in New Zealand interests you, you will need to be eligible for vocational or provisional vocational registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand in the scope of internal medicine and have the right to work in New Zealand as the holder of citizenship, permanent residency or an appropriate visa. Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand is accredited with Immigration New Zealand to sponsor visas. Read the information below to determine if your qualifications and experience will be accepted for vocational registration and if you will be eligible to work as a specialist internal medicine physician or subspecialist in the following disciplines:
DEFINITION OF SCOPE OF PRACTICE
Internal medicine involves the diagnosis and management of patients with complex medical problems. The speciality encompasses general internal medicine and acute internal medicine as well as the subspeciality fields of cardiology, clinical immunology, clinical pharmacology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatric medicine, haematology, infectious diseases, medical oncology, nephrology, neurology, nuclear medicine, palliative medicine, respiratory medicine and rheumatology.
Vocational training in internal medicine is administered by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). Following completion of RACP training, doctors are awarded the Fellowship of the RACP (FRACP).
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is the professional medical College which connects, trains and represents over 30,000 medical specialists and trainee specialists from 33 different specialties, across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The RACP educational duties include:
The FRACP Training Program is a six year program which consists of basic and advanced programs.
Basic Training
Adult Internal Medicine or Paediatrics & Child Health
Advanced training
Division training programs
Joint training programs
FRACP and FAFRM
Paediatric Rehabilitation Medicine
FRACP and FRCPA
Endocrinology & Chemical Pathology
Haematology
Immunology & Allergy
Infectious Diseases & Microbiology
FRACP and/or FACEM
Paediatric Emergency Medicine
Chapter training programs
Faculty training programs
To apply for vocational registration in the speciality of internal medicine, you need either:
The Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) does not have a list of recognised specialist qualifications from other countries and each application is assessed individually. Your combination of qualifications, training and experience, will be assessed against the standard of the FACEM.
Recognised specialists in New Zealand must complete 6 years of training and satisfy the requirements below:
Once a trainee has successfully completed all the examination and training requirements they will be awarded the FRACP in internal medicine.
International medical graduates are assessed in comparison to this standard.
There are three pathways to apply for vocational registration.
VOC 1 - physicians who hold FRACP and general registration with the Australian Medical Board or Medical Council of New Zealand.
VOC 2 - physicians who hold FRACP but do not have general registration with the Australian Medical Board or Medical Council of New Zealand.
VOC 3 - international medical graduates who have neither FRACP nor general registration with the Australian Medical Board or Medical Council of New Zealand.
Each application form lists the information which must be included with the application.
This consists of the following:
Your application will go through initial checks with the MCNZ before being sent to the ACEM for assessment.
Other things to consider include:
You may be eligible to apply for other categories of registation with the MCNZ. These include special purpose registration and general registration.
Special purpose registration is valid for a maximum of 12 months and is useful for fixed term contracts and locums.
General registration is suitable for doctors aiming to work at sub specialist levels.