We advertise medical vacancies on behalf of Health Employers in New Zealand and Australia. Candidates should apply directly to the employers. Southern Doctor regrets it cannot provide specific employment advice or find you a job.

Read on for information regarding registration and finding a job.

New Zealand

Registration: Visit the Medical Council of New Zealand Website.

Prior to considering working in NZ you must visit this site and use assessment tools there to gauge your registerability. Medical Registration is necessary for the practice of medicine in NZ. Medical practice can include utilisation of medical skills and knowledge even when there is no direct patient contact involved (eg medical advisor to a drug company). Medical Registration in NZ now occurs within a General or Vocational Scope of Practice. An excellent brochure from the Medical Council can be found here

Finding a job

The main health employers in New Zealand are the District Health Boards. General Practitioners generally run their own practices although there are larger groups. The District Health Boards are listed here.

Other useful sites

The terms and conditions offered to applicants from outside NZ are sometimes not as advantageous as those established for local candidates. Information and advice can be found on the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists site which has an excellent page on working in NZ. This also includes a link to a league table of salary scales. Junior doctors may be interested in the Resident Doctors Association site.

Australia

Australia is (in)famous for its bureaucracy which arises in part from having two major levels of Government (Federal and State).

Registration

The various States and Territories of Australia each have their own medical boards which are responsible for the registration of Medical Practitioners in that State or Territory. The web sites of the boards are not yet that informative for overseas trained doctors and you may have to approach the Boards direct. Alternatively, hospitals are usually well informed on the intricacies of registration and will offer you assistance (if they want you that is!)

The Australian Medical Council is an independent national standards body for primary medical training. One of the Council's major objectives is to ensure that overseas trained doctors are able to provide high quality medical care to Australian patients before they are legally qualified to practice medicine in this country. Therefore if your basic or advanced medical qualification is not one which the State Medical Board considers eligible for registration in its own right, you will have to satisfy the criteria of the Australian Medical Council:

Another useful resource for doctors seeking work in Australia is
www.healthposts.com.au