AMC registration is mandatory for practicing medicine in Australia for both local medical graduates as well as overseas medical graduates

The overseas candidate who wishes to practice medicine in Australia needs to be clear about the route he wishes to take while he applies for AMC registration.

The following are the various registration categories

In Australia , all the States and Territories have adopted uniform minimum requirements for initial registration as a medical practitioner. There are two standard registration categories:

Under the terms of mutual recognition , a medical practitioner who has full or unconditional registration in one State or Territory is eligible for registration to practise in another State or Territory.

A medical practitioner who is not eligible for unconditional registration may be considered for Registration with Conditions in one of the following categories:

For both categories of registration, applicants must satisfy the relevant Medical Board that they:

The education and training requirements for each specialty depend on the type of clinical medical practice, but can be broadly summarised as:

(i) Prevocational training involving a broad practical clinical experience in the intern and second postgraduate years, during which career aspirations are clarified.

(ii) Vocational training in a chosen specialty*. Vocational training commonly includes basic and advanced training over several years, with the total period of vocational training ranging from 3 to 7 years according to the specialty.

(iii) The educational component of vocational training includes:

The structured assessments conducted during specialist training and the progressive increase in experience and level of responsibility are integrally related. To be safe to practise as a specialist, it is not possible to sit and pass these examinations in isolation from the training program. The Colleges do however have processes that allow medical practitioners who have undertaken comparable training and gained relevant experience outside Australia and New Zealand to be assessed and recognised for medical practice.

To encourage the development of additional skills and to broaden career paths, Colleges support participation in research and completion of postgraduate degrees (PhD, MD) during training or during periods when training is temporarily interrupted.

Overseas trained doctors whose primary medical qualifications are not recognised in Australia can only gain eligibility for general registration if they pass the AMC examination, are awarded the AMC Certificate, and complete a period of supervised training approved by a State or Territory Medical Board

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Overseas trained specialists whose primary medical qualifications are not recognised in Australia must have their training and qualifications assessed through the AMC/Specialist Medical College assessment procedures and have gained recognition as a specialist practitioner by the relevant College before being eligible to apply to a State or Territory Medical Board for conditional registration to practise in the field of specialisation in which they have been recognised.

The Australian Medical Council administers the national examinations of overseas trained medical practitioners seeking to practise medicine in Australia .

The AMC examinations are designed to assess, for registration purposes, the medical knowledge and clinical skills of overseas trained doctors whose basic medical qualifications are not recognised by State and Territory Medical Boards that is, doctors trained in medical schools that have not been formally reviewed and accredited by the AMC.