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Happy Australia Day for doctors down under. 

Australians have indulged in some of their favourite activities during Australia Day in January, celebrating with long days at the beach and bbqs with their friends. And indeed, life in Australia is currently very much worth celebrating for international doctors.

At a time when Britain faces harsh austerity measures and Europe struggles to overcome financial difficulties, Australia has remained in a strong economic position, as a result in part of its mineral wealth.

This stability has pushed up the Australian dollar to a particularly strong position against major currencies, making the decision to work in Australia a smart financial, as well as professional and lifestyle decision.

MediRecruit Doctor has a range of vacancies for doctors in locations that offer the Australian beach lifestyle, either in coastal locations or major cities just a stones' throw from some of the country's most beautiful beaches.

Doctors interested in working in Australia can apply now to ensure they can take part in next year's Australia Day celebrations.

Email doctor@medirecruit.com.

How hard is it to gain a visa and medical registration to work in Australia?

This topic has recently attracted attention in the national media in Australia. Doctors have spoken out about the difficulty they have experienced in gaining medical registration to work in Australia or to access a Medicare provider number.

The administrative process for ensuring doctors is an important one, but it can be frustrating for those who have not 'jumped through the hoops' before.

MediRecruit Doctor can provide assistance to these doctors to ensure they are aware of the requirements and expected time periods, and provide support throughout the process.

Simply apply for a current vacancy or future position and if you are a successful candidate, MediRecruit Doctor will help simplify the visa and registration process.

Email doctor@medirecruit.com.

Financial difficulties in NHS may result in UK doctors seeking jobs in Australia

Jobs in Australia for UK doctors may become more appealing after a government watchdog revealed at least 20 NHS trusts, including up to 17 hospitals, were not fit for purpose in their current form.

Due to the harsh economic climate in the UK, one in five hospitals are struggling to survive.

The report was released by the National Audit Office (NAO). It also revealed that hospitals will be unlikely to gain independent control of their futures by achieving foundation status by the government's aim of 2014.

The NHS is facing mounting problems, most significantly in London, where local hospitals have had difficulty balancing their books, overshadowed by larger teaching institutions.

It is unlikely that London hospitals will reach foundation status without closures and mergers.

Last month, Chase Farm Hospital's Accident and Emergency and Maternity units were closed in north-west London.

Emergency Medicine registrars and General Medicine registrars needed

MediRecruit Doctor has vacancies for Emergency Medicine registrars in Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory and General Medicine registrar jobs in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Vacancies for Emergency registrars and General Medicine registrars are available in both major cities and regional areas across these states.

These jobs are suitable for international medical graduates due to shortages of medical professionals in these areas and disciplines. They offer varied lifestyle benefits, from inner-city living in cities considered among the world's most liveable, to attractive coastal locations and warm climates.

Register your interest in a specific location, or general vacancies on our jobs for doctors registration page.

Royal Darwin Hospital boosts status as a teaching hospital 

The Northern Territory's Royal Darwin Hospital has received a new level of accreditation that places it at the same level as some of Australia's top teaching hospitals.

The hospital's Division of Adult Medicine has been accredited at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) Level Three Accreditation status, the highest attainable by a teaching hospital.

The new accreditation will make the Royal Darwin Hospital a highly attractive pathway for international medical graduates interested in working in Australia.

The health service is located in a unique part of Australia, offering a wide range of exciting leisure activities and rewarding professional experiences to doctors.

Northern Territory Health Minister Kon Vatskalis offered the hospital words of congratulations on the achievement, saying the accreditation was among strong training pathways that were being developed for medical practitioners in the NT.

 

Recruiting now for February start: General Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics

MediRecruit Doctor is recruiting now for General medicine jobs, Emergency Medicine jobs, Psychiatry jobs, O&G jobs and Paediatrics jobs. The positions will start in February, 2012 and are for six months and longer.

Positions are available in Metropolitan areas, with jobs in Australian capital cities including Melbourne, Perth and Darwin, and regional areas of Victoria, Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia. Some of the country's largest health services are looking to fill these positions early next year.

We are also looking for General Practitioners for vacanies across Australia and we still need junior and specialist doctors and GPs for positions in Auckland, New Zealand.

International medical graduates, including those from the UK and Ireland, who are interested in these roles can receive immigration support through MediRecruit Doctor.

Doctors who wish to find out more about these positions can contact MediRecruit Doctor at doctor@medirecruit.com

Jobs in New Zealand now available

MediRecruit Doctor is now looking for doctors to fill medical positions in New Zealand. Vacancies are available for Emergency Specialists, Intensive Care Specialists and Radiology Specialists. The positions are located at the North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand.

Attractive benefits are available to successful applicants. They include a relocation bonus for international medical graduates, six weeks annual leave, a contribution towards CME and reimbursement of some work-related expenses.

Doctors who wish to find out more about these positions should contact MediRecruit Doctor at doctor@medirecruit.com

Health system overhaul for Australia

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced an overhaul of the health system in Australia.

The overhaul will deliver $16.4 billion into the health system from the Federal Government in return for transparency about how state governments spend the funding.

The announcement came at the Commonwealth of Australian Governments meeting on February 13. Gillard said the changes would improve health services, remove red tape and deliver unprecedented transparency.

Both poorly performing and the most efficient hospitals will be identified in the overhaul.

The new deal involves a 50-50 partnership between state and federal governments on all new health funding.

It comes after a previous proposal for the Federal Government to receive 30% of the states' GST receipts and use the funds to receive 60% of hospital funding was rejected.

The states will now retain their GST receipts.

Delays for international doctors to work in Australia may be reviewed

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has welcomed the Medical Board of Australia's review of assessment processes for international medical graduates (IMGs) working in Australia.

The board will work with the Australian Medical Council to determine the terms of assessment pathways for international doctors, which came into effect on 1 July, 2008.

The AMA would like the review to consider the delays in the assessment of IMGs who want to work as doctors in Australia. This is particularly important in Australia's Area of Need regions.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA had raised concerns with the Board about the assessment pathways in August and again last week.

“Our members have been telling us for some time that they were aware of unnecessary delays in the assessment of IMGs seeking to commence or continue working in Australia, including in areas of need,” Dr Pesce said.

“We have discovered that most of the concerns relate to the registration and renewal requirements for IMGs who have limited registration to work in areas of need and who are then facing long assessment delays.

“In addition, it would seem that the Pre-Employment Structured Clinical Interview assessment is being heavily relied on to reassess IMGs who are required to renew their registration instead of more thorough performance assessments with appropriate opportunities for reskilling and mentoring.

“The AMA continues to fully support a robust assessment process to ensure that only competent and qualified doctors can work in Australia.

“However, we believe the review is needed to ensure that we have fair and appropriate assessment arrangements that don’t prejudice these doctors or the communities they work in or seek to work in,” Dr Pesce said.

Costs for locum doctors in UK reach £750 million 

The cost for hiring temporary doctors in the NHS has almost doubled compared with 2007.

The increase has been blamed on a European law restricting the number of  hours medical staff can work, according to the Royal College of Surgeons in the UK.

In the past year, the annual spending on all hospital locum doctors has increased by almost £200 million. For surgeons it is almost £250m a year.

Industry leaders have said the steep rise has occurred because managers are trying to fill in gaps created by the introduction of new European working time regulations limiting doctors a working a maximum of 48 hours per week.

The Royal College of Surgeons (UK) has spoken out against the European Working Time Regulations (EWTR) and the increased spending that it says the regulations have caused.

John Black, President of The Royal College of Surgeons, said:  “It seems ridiculous that at a time of economic crisis, with wide-ranging cuts to services across the board, we are seeing astronomical sums of money being thrown at locum doctors in order to prop up services that are only falling apart because of an ill-conceived European law.  Unless hours for doctors working in 24-hour acute care medicine are relaxed to a sensible level the pool of good, safe doctors will dry up and we will see more units close.  The coalition Government has promised to deal with the issue, but the question is when?”

Surgeons in training have called for a maximum working week of 65 hours, including on-call. 

New training positions for doctors in Australia

The Australian Government will spend $425 million on 12,000 new clinical training positions for doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

The positions are part of the new Federal Government's election promises on health.

According to The Australian newspaper, the training positions have been allocated to benefit areas of health workforce shortage, not only in rural and regional areas but also on urban fringes.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced the $425 million allocation in October, presenting the concentration on skills training in health as part of her approach to economic reform.

The new funding, including $139 million next year, will provide clinical training positions for 22 health and medical professions across the nation, including doctors.

The funding package will deliver 1.2 million training days -- up 23.4% on last year's levels -- involving 41 universities and more than 700 clinical training providers. It will support a 9.1% increase in the training of students across the health professions, ensuring that as students graduate, they will be able to access clinical training positions.

About 60% of the places will be delivered by the non-government and private sectors, with 37 per cent in rural and regional areas and 41% of the placement days aimed at priority health areas, including aged care, dental care, mental health, primary health and community-based services.

UK set for health reforms in coming year

Health reform will be among the key points of British Prime Minister David Cameron's first major speech of the year.

This week, government ministers will publish legislation to overhaul the health service, removing primary care trusts and health authorities and handing power and financial control to GPs.

The coming year is expected to be crucial for the Coalition government's public service reforms, beginning a process that will bring about what has been dubbed as the complete modernisation of public services, including health, as well as education and justice.

In his speech, Cameron is expected to say that without change, children will be poorly educated, patients badly treated in the NHS and public faith in law and order will be further eroded. He will say that the reforms should not be put off any longer.

New government in Australia: what it means for doctors and health

As part of the deal between independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, the Prime Minister pledged $1.8bn to regional hospitals in a new round of funding to be rolled out in the Health and Hospitals Fund from next month.

The Labor Government has won the recent federal election in Australia, with Julia Gillard appointed Prime Minister. The result will have implications on health across the country, with regional areas promised $1.8 billion extra funding for health infrastructure.

As part of deal between independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott and the Labor Government, the Prime Minister pledged the cash injection to regional hospitals in a new round of funding to be rolled out in the Health and Hospitals Fund from next month.

The funding aimed to provide capital funding for upgrades to regional health infrastructure, expansions to regional hospitals and to help boost the clinical training capacity of the hospitals.

To complement the infrastructure boost, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia is also calling for initiatives to address workforce shortages in regional areas. The association has called for a package to boost the regional health workforce in the next few months in the 2011-2012 federal budget, including higher Medicare payments for doctors in rural and remote areas -- with the most remote practices gaining access to Medicare fees 50 per cent above those available to city doctors.

Change to registration body from July 1, 2010

Doctors will need to apply for registration through the Medical Board of Australia from July 1, 2010.

This will remove responsibility for overseeing medical registration from the states to a national board.

Doctors who wish to apply for registration can contact the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) from 1 July. Further detials about AHPRA and the Medical Board of Australia is available at the AHPRA website.

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Need a reason to move to Australia? Read on!

Not only are doctors highly sought after by health care services and private employers, they are also the pick of the bunch with the opposite sex, according to a new survey.

A big 12% of men voted healthcare and medical professions as the sexiest occupations, while women preferred the trades and service industries. Women voted healthcare and medical as the fourth most popular occupation.