Australia – Reach for the Seven Stars

Intro

Warning: this may be a boring read but it is more for me to document what we (as a family) are going through.

In this case – a big move, from Portsmouth, UK to Sydney, Australia. In this case – from Clinical Oncology to Medical Oncology.

I got this job a year ago and have written about it extensively (MIA job offer). David also managed to get a job as a Paediatric Intensive Care Fellow at Westmead Children’s Hospital. Great. Let’s go! What we didn’t anticipate is the amount of work we need to put into the big move. No wonder many people are deterred from doing something like this. It’s not easy for a single person – try a family of 4! As a side note – I am glad that I didn’t pass the exam because we’ve now just entered Crunch Time, I would have lost my mind doing both. So here we are and we are 100% all in.

(Another side note, it is also crunch time in getting competencies and assessments done at Southampton and I need to fill in all my documents for going back to the Portsmouth – all before the 22nd of October when we go to DISNEY!)

So… there are 4 parts to this (4 broad categories and 2 subcategories in each), as far as I can tell. Although listed in order with a tedious step-wise process, they all have to be done congruently. Miss a step and you might have to re-do and pay the fees again. (So check multiple times, then fill in). Also quite obviously, these all have a reciprocal nature to it as there is the outbound UK process and the subsequent inbound Australia counterpart.

Part 1 – Registrations

UK Training Out of Programme Approval

Informing our Educational Supervisors, Training Programme Directors of our intention to take a break from training.
Filling in an Out of Programme form (reasons either for Training, Experience, Research, Career Break). This has to be signed by the ES, TPD, and finally approved by the Academic Dean.
Followed by informing the College (e.g. RCR).
Also establishing a plan on what needs to be accomplished before going. For me, I don’t have to complete all the FRCR exams as I am going into a Med Onc job.
As an extra, we need to speak with HR regarding how a break in NHS service will impact our pension contribution.

Australian Medical Registration

Warning… this is the biggest bulk of the work and it is pretty costly too. I’ve included the price tag of each step.

Australian Medical Council (AMC) – this is a close equivalent of the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK. We needed to sign up to get a number to facilitate the next step. (648 AUD = 338 GBP)
ECFMG for Primary Source Verification – I find it odd that the Australians have to use a US service to verify our medical diplomas. To get an ECFMG account, we needed to have a notarising agent to check our IDs and face and we had to raise our right hand and solemnly swear that we are who we are (very American). Then we are granted an ECFMG account and had to upload our medical degree for them to verify and inform the AMC that our degree is not a fake. (255 USD = 190 GBP)
In the background, I also have to apply to the Royal College of Australian Physicians (RACP) for a Short-Term Training Pathway Application. I qualify for this as I am 2 years away from completing training. David is on a Competent Pathway as he has more than 2 years from finishing training. Pages of application which entails re-writing my whole CV in their format. This is also a joint effort between MIA and myself as they have to fill in parts of it. (1095.45 AUD = 582 GBP)
In the RACP application – I needed my AMC number which has the verification of my diploma by the ECFMG. It also needed a few more support documents – AAMC-30, letter from my TPD, letter of intention from me. Then the RACP granted me permission to proceed (yes there is more).
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) – As if the above is not enough. This is the ultimate things of why all of the above is needed. We are now in this step and aim to submit by mid-October. (1661 AUD = 876 GBP)
Within the AHPRA application, there are further steps such as…
Notarisation of documents (approximately 240 GBP)
International Criminal Record Check – I had to list down the addresses since I was 18! I had to dig up 11 addresses across 8 cities, 2 continents. I had to pay for the UK check, US non-NY check, and US NY check. There better not be any surprises. (429 AUD = 250 GBP)
Also need a Certificate of Good Standing from the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC).