More information about how PAs will be supervised proposed framework is in this section of the full consultation paper linked here.

Guide on how to use myMCNZ including how to access it, how to update your details, how to request a COPS and how to renew your practising certificate.

Draft document for consultation. In this document we advise doctors on how they can support the achievement of best health outcomes for Māori. We also provide guidance for healthcare organisations on how to support Māori health equity.

This guide for supervisors of IMGs outlines how to access supervision reports through Council's myMCNZ portal, as well as how to complete and submit them.

In late 2009 we asked the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) to undertake a full review of how we were performing. This is their report on how we did.

This document is a guide for prevocational educational supervisors on how to support their interns to complete the MSF process and provides information on how to interpret the collated report before discussing the results with their interns.

This statement outlines how we manage the personal information we collect.

This quick guide for stakeholders covers how to make an online claim through myMCNZ.

As a doctor, you have an obligation to be respectful and professional as your behaviour may affect how a health team functions, how care is delivered to patients, and the public’s trust and confidence in the medical profession. If you have concerns about the conduct, competence or safety of a doctor’s practice, you should notify the Medical Council.

This guide outlines why doctors may have conditions on their practice, how to find out if a doctor has conditions, and what some of the different types of conditions mean for you as a patient.

Our Strategic plan for 2021 – 2025 outlines our vision and purpose and how we will enhance the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi through achieving our strategic priorities.

This is an updated draft version of the statement which we're consulting on. Please see the consultation section of our website for more information including how to provide feedback.

This handbook is intended as a guide for doctors undergoing performance assessments and aims to provide you with an understanding of how performance assessments work,
and to ensure that there are no surprises for you throughout the assessment process

The ePort privacy statement explains how the Council collects, stores, uses and shares information through ePort and outlines the standards and requirements in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the relevant privacy principles.

This sheet provides information on how Professional Conduct Committees (PCCs) request information, what powers they must obtain information, what they do with information they receive, and answers some frequently asked questions.

There is a potential for health-related commercial organisations to influence how doctors practise and the clinical decisions they make. We are reviewing our statement on doctors and health-related commercial organisations and would value your feedback.

Some pathways to registration require doctors to have completed their internship in a particular country. If you are applying for registration and did your internship somewhere else, this policy outlines how we will assess your suitability for registration.

Maintaining clinical records is part of good medical practice. Clinical notes are an important tool for managing the patient's care, and communicating with other doctors and health professionals. This statement guides doctors on what information they should record, and for how long they should retain patients' records.

In the May 2016 issue of Medical Council News we looked at doctors providing care to themselves and those close to them, informed consent, and guidance from the Pharmacy Council on effective prescription writing for safe collaborative patient management.

The purpose of these principles is to provide a framework for good decision-making about notifications assessed and managed by the Council. The principles are not intended to cover every specific scenario but rather provide guidance in how notifications should be assessed and managed. The framework applies to the decisions of the Notifications Triage Team (NTT) and of Council.

In this issue of Medical Council News we acknowledge the contribution and mana of Mr Andrew Connolly, our Chair and leader over the last five years. We also highlight our two new statements on professional and sexual boundaries in the doctor-patient relationship and the Ministry shares guidance around new laws relating to medicinal cannabis.

When applying for registration at the end of your medical training you will have to answer questions relating to your fitness to practise. This guide will help you to figure out what you may need to declare to Council.

This document outlines the adjustments to our existing fees and disciplinary levy effective 1 July 2021, made using an activity-based costing methodology, and following an extensive review process.

Māori experience disparities in outcomes compared to the rest of the population across nearly all areas of health due to inequity in determinants of health, including access to quality health care. This document outlines Council’s position on how doctors can support the achievement of best health outcomes for Māori. It also provides guidance for healthcare organisations to support cultural safety and Māori health equity. This document should be read in conjunction with Council’s Statement on cultural safety.

During the course of a medical career, a doctor may be involved in management or have a leadership role. This statement outlines the standards doctors are expected to meet when they take on such roles. While doctors in a leadership role have a duty to their workplace and the wider community, their first consideration must always be the interests and safety of patients.

An amendment of this notice was published on 1 October 2024, Notice No. 2024-sl4980 and another amendment was published on 31 March 2025, Notice No. 2025-sl1765.

We will achieve our vision, deliver on our purpose, uphold the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and be a sustainable organisation through our strategic priorities.

Health-related commercial organisations share some common goals with doctors: they seek to prevent, control, cure and manage diseases, or physical and mental conditions, and may conduct research to improve and advance health care. However, health-related commercial organisations can also have different and potentially conflicting goals in that generating a profit is often a principal goal whereas a doctor’s primary concern must always be the care of patients. This statement outlines our expectations when doctors interact with health-related commercial organisations, and provides guidance on recognising, assessing and managing conflicts of interest (including perceived conflicts of interest) that may arise.

Earlier this year we sought feedback on the draft statement on Treating yourself and those close to you. A wide range of submissions was received from key stakeholders across the profession and some common themes emerged. Council has revised this statement taking into account your feedback.

Form that needs to be completed in order to apply for a partial refund of your practising certificate fee if your income for the year was below the threshold.

All doctors have a duty to act on their concerns about another doctor, but doctors in management roles have an extra responsibility to ensure that there are appropriate reporting procedures in place, and these procedures are known to staff who may need to use them. This statement provides guidance for doctors who are concerned about a medical colleague's conduct, performance, competence or health, and provides suggestions on what to do and who to approach.

Council report following an independent review of the implementation of the prevocational medical training programme for interns. The independent review was commissioned by Council and carried out by an Implementation Review Group chaired by Dr Kenneth Clark, Chair of the National District Health Board Chief Medical Officer Group.

Update on Whanganui DHB's accreditation status as at 25 May 2022

Council's submission to Manatū Hauora | Ministry of Health on their consultation around the regulation of physician associates under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.

A community-based attachment is an educational experience in an accredited clinical attachment in a community-focused service in which the intern is engaged in caring for the patient and managing their illness in the context of their family and community.

NZCPHM accreditation report relating to the visit on 4, 5 and 6 May 2022

Doctor-patient relationships can come to an end for a variety of reasons, commonly when the patient moves to another area or chooses to see another doctor, but also when the relationship breaks down and either the doctor or patient decides to discontinue the professional relationship. We outline in this statement the process for discontinuing patient care, and the need to do so in a fair and professional manner.

Manatū Hauora - The Ministry of Health (the Ministry) is proposing that the Physician Associate (PA) profession be regulated under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (HPCA) Act 2003. This document outlines the details of this proposal.

Prevocational medical training accreditation report for Tairāwhiti District Health Board following site visit on 4 and 5 May 2021

Prevocational medical training accreditation report for Te Whatu Ora - Lakes following site visit on 24 and 25 May 2022

Council, in partnership with Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa (Te ORA), jointly hosted a highly successful symposium on cultural competence, partnership and health equity on 25 June 2019. The theme of the symposium was Mahia te mahi, hei painga mō te iwi, Getting the job done for the wellbeing of the people. The event aimed to investigate ways of working together to improve cultural safety in order to work towards eliminating health inequities. This booklet brings together the presentations and whakaaro shared at the symposium.

Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | the Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) considers it important that all interns have the knowledge and skills to manage and supervise resuscitation events and therefore we have a longstanding requirement that interns hold New Zealand Resuscitation Council (NZRC) CORE Advanced certification.

You must agree to these rules before you can take the examination. If you break these rules you will fail the examination and there may be consequences for any future application for registration.

We recognise Taiwanese medical schools so that graduates from these schools have the opportunity to undertake NZREX Clinical. We must ensure we only register fully qualified doctors. However, the exclusion of Taiwanese medical schools from WDOMS is due to political factors and not the standard of those schools. The ECFMG has approved graduates of these schools to undertake the prerequisite examination - USMLE Steps 1 and 2.

In May 2019 Council consulted with stakeholders on a revised statement and resource on cultural competence, cultural safety and achieving best health outcomes for Māori. The feedback can be found here. The final documents were completed in October 2019.

The main purpose of the collegial relationship is to ensure that a doctor's PDP and CPD are appropriate for the work they are doing. This guide is intended to outline what you need to do as part of this relationship including prompts for guiding discussion in collegial relationship meetings.

Doctors are often asked for input by their family and friends. This may include requests for medical advice or a prescription, or more substantial involvement such as performing a procedure. This statement explains why doctors must avoid treating themselves and those they have a close personal relationship with.

Telehealth is the use of digital technology to deliver health services where participants may be separated by distance and/or time. This statement outlines our expectation of doctors who practise telehealth in New Zealand and overseas, and includes guidance on registration, conducting physical examinations and prescribing.

Council is proposing to extend the provisional vocational assessment period from 18 to 24 months. This will enable a specific cohort of specialist IMGs who may not otherwise meet the standard, to gain provisional vocational registration and complete discrete training to address identified
deficiencies in their qualifications, training and experience.

This statement outlines what cultural safety means and why it is important. The document reflects the evolution of thinking away from the cultural competence of doctors – that is acquiring skills and knowledge of other cultures – towards self-reflection of a doctor’s own attitudes and biases that may affect the cultural safety of patients. Council requires doctors to meet these cultural safety standards.

This report presents the results of our 2025 workforce survey. Key findings include 20,530 practising doctors, a 2.6% rise from last year. Nearly half are women (49.6%), and representation of Māori (5.5%) and Pacific (2.7%) doctors is growing among younger doctors. International medical graduates continue to play a vital role, especially outside the main centres.