Specialist International Medical Graduates
The role of the S-IMG Committee is to respond to requests from the Australian
Medical Council asking the College to determine whether an ophthalmologist
trained overseas is comparable to an Australian-trained specialist entering the
workforce.
The process – in a nutshell
An ophthalmologist who is an overseas trained specialist from another country
can apply to the Australian Medical Council (AMC) to practice in Australia. The AMC
takes these applications and decides whether they are recognised as a specialist
in their own, or another, country and, if so, refers the applicant to the appropriate
College – for example, to RANZCO. “The AMC asks that College whether
the applicant’s training and experience is comparable to that of a locally trained
specialist currently entering the workforce,” says Dr Cains. “That’s where the S-IMG
Committee comes in.”
There are eight people on the Committee, which is divided into two panels with four
people on each panel. The application goes to one of those panels of four reviewers,
and Dr Cains – as Chair – looks at every application. “We conduct a thorough
overview of the information gathered: the applicant’s certificates, CVs, logbooks
and training records,” says Dr Cains. “We go through all this material and each of
us independently comes to a preliminary conclusion as to what this person’s status is.
These conclusions are put on the table. I go through each of those various conclusions
and try to draw a composite conclusion from that. That conclusion is sent back to
the members of the panel, to see whether they accept the composite conclusion or
whether they want to argue it or suggest something else. We go through that process
until the whole panel is happy with the joint conclusion.”
