Any SA doctors?

[GrahamH]

Hi All,

 

Hubby and I are in the process of immigration with him as the main applicant for a 189. He is in the IT field and things seem fairly straightforward  for him. However I am a medical doctor here and from what I read, there is a lot of red tape (not to mention expenses) to become registered in Aus. We have a small baby at home and I'm actually becoming quite despondent looking at the options. I am in the process of specialising after working as an MO in the same field for a number of years and we would be immigrating in the middle of my specialisation - leaving me with no actual specialist qualification. This means I would have to write the AMC exams without having worked in general or hospital practice for nearly 8 years.

 

Are there any fellow doctor's who have made the leap? Are the AMC exams as awful as they sound?

 

Am I 'doomed' to be a stay at home mom? PLEASE don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than to be a housewife, caring for my son but I'm not sure it would be easy or comfortable to be a single income household and feel its a lot of pressure to rely on my hubby to be the sole breadwinner.

[ottg]

@GrahamH Dont know how my reply ended on a another thread.

From what I have heard from other GPs and people I know. If you are prepared to locate to a regional area the government may assist you in setting up your med practice. I know of a couple who has done that. (She is commuting 50km north and he is travelling 70km South for the past 10 years) A regional area is not as bad as it may sound, as it needs to be just outside satellite cities. My approach would be to contact expat GPs through Linkedin / medical associations as many of them may have studied with you/your friends and just ask them. 

[Splinky]

Hi GrahamH,

 

I was a doctor in SA before we immigrated a year and a half ago (just out of comm serve so more junior than you). I personally opted to become a SAHM instead of registering to practice here. The main reason is because, with no family support, we just wouldn't cope both working full-time with 2 young children. At the time we immigrated, after writing the AMC MCQ, I would have had to have worked under supervision (basically like an internship) full-time for a year. AHPRA would not allow me to work part-time for this year so I decided to opt out of medicine. I think the whole registration thing has recently changed so I'm not sure this is still the case. It seems to change quite regularly. The AMC website is quite informative and I'm sure you will find some answers there.

 

I have friends who have written the AMCs who say they are pretty tough but definitely doable. That being said, they were all working in general medicine or ICU at the time and were quite fresh out of med school. Cost is around $3500 for the first part and another $3500 for the clinical component.

 

I would suggest completing your specialist training before immigrating if at all possible. If not, I would consider registering to write the AMCs as soon as you can and then when you land try to secure a training post. If your partner is the main applicant for your visa and he secures a job in a main city, there are loopholes that will allow you to work there too (ie you won't have to work in a regional area).

 

Sorry I can't be of more help. I would also suggest you contact old classmates, colleagues and friends who have moved over. Plenty of SA drs this side.

 

All the best!

 

 

[SML]

Hi,

I'm a GP here in Perth but I didn't have to do my AMC exams as I specialized as a GP in the UK & they accepted those postgraduate qualifications. I then went the specialist registration path with AHPRA. 

As mentioned above, the AMC website it good & quite clear. 

there are some training posts that are quite central but competition is high for training posts in general. 

PM me if you would like more info but as i am a GP, I am not too clued up with other specialities. 

Good luck!

 

[GrahamH]

30 minutes ago, Splinky said:

Hi GrahamH,

 

I was a doctor in SA before we immigrated a year and a half ago (just out of comm serve so more junior than you). I personally opted to become a SAHM instead of registering to practice here. The main reason is because, with no family support, we just wouldn't cope both working full-time with 2 young children. At the time we immigrated, after writing the AMC MCQ, I would have had to have worked under supervision (basically like an internship) full-time for a year. AHPRA would not allow me to work part-time for this year so I decided to opt out of medicine. I think the whole registration thing has recently changed so I'm not sure this is still the case. It seems to change quite regularly. The AMC website is quite informative and I'm sure you will find some answers there.

 

I have friends who have written the AMCs who say they are pretty tough but definitely doable. That being said, they were all working in general medicine or ICU at the time and were quite fresh out of med school. Cost is around $3500 for the first part and another $3500 for the clinical component.

 

I would suggest completing your specialist training before immigrating if at all possible. If not, I would consider registering to write the AMCs as soon as you can and then when you land try to secure a training post. If your partner is the main applicant for your visa and he secures a job in a main city, there are loopholes that will allow you to work there too (ie you won't have to work in a regional area).

 

Sorry I can't be of more help. I would also suggest you contact old classmates, colleagues and friends who have moved over. Plenty of SA drs this side.

 

All the best!

 

 

 

Thanks, it seems like a similar process currently. And I will likely be in the same position as you with no family support and a toddler (and hopefully another child in the near future) so this SAHM thing sounds like its fast becoming a reality! It seems like the AMC MCQ cannot be written from RSA anyway. 

 

How do you manage on one salary? Is it doable?

 

 

[Splinky]

To be honest, I used to be very work-driven and never imagined I would be a sahm, but I am actually really happy with our choice   It is obviously more difficult financially but we are doing alright. My hubby is an auditor and he earns under $100k pa at the moment. We live in the Central Coast NSW just 1.5 hours north of Sydney so rent and general cost of living is lower than in the major cities. We are comfortable, renting a 3 bedroom house in a good suburb and afford the odd little holiday etc. Definitely not nearly as flush as we were in SA but happy with where we are. When you immigrate you get a fresh start financially ito debt etc so we opted for a smaller lifestyle and it works for us. I am currently looking at doing an ultrasonagraphy diploma so that when my youngest is 2 or 3 I can do some part time work. Sonographers are paid pretty well here and part time work is more freely available.

 

We chose what was best for our family but I do know a dr couple in our area who both work full time and have hired an au pair to look after their little boy. They seem pretty happy with their choice too. Depends what you want.

 

Just be aware that once you are out of practice for more than 2 years, it becomes very tricky to get back in from a registration point of view.

[Splinky]

Oh, and you can't write the MCQ from SA at this stage. The full list of places you can register to write is on the AMC website.