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173 results matching “how to change maternity leave date in ird”
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This document aims to clarify matters relating to the amended start date and changes to dates for intern clinical attachments for the year commencing at the end of 2020.
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New Zealand’s medical workforce has grown to 21,097 practising doctors, with the latest Medical Council workforce report also showing changes in who makes up the profession, where doctors are working and how long they stay in New Zealand.
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If you're not working away from New Zealand but are just taking a break from medical practice, this page outlines what you need to do.
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Find out how to keep us up to date with changes to your information including your name, employment, and addresses.
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The Medical Council has today launched Torohia – Medical Training Survey for New Zealand, a new survey designed with the profession, for the profession, to better understand doctors’ experience of postgraduate training.
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It is important that we understand the composition and changes in our medical workforce, so that good planning decisions can be made. This pack brings together the key data that matters most.
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Council requires all doctors in PGY2, to satisfy the requirements of a programme ordered by Council under section 40 of the HPCAA.
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Every doctor in New Zealand must be registered to practise medicine. If you are not eligible for registration under any other pathway, you must sit and pass the NZREX Clinical, our registration examination.
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If you are planning on leaving New Zealand to practise in another country, its medical regulator may ask you for a certificate of professional status (COPS) from us. Your registration is not affected by your decision to practise overseas but you must ensure that we hold current contact details for you.
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This page outlines how the process of renewing your practising certificate works and what to do if your certificate is about to expire and you haven't heard from us.
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The Medical Council of New Zealand will protect and safeguard personal information and treat it with the utmost care, respect and discretion. This includes all personal information collected online.This privacy notice applies to personal information that we collect through this website: www.mcnz.org.nz
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This dashboard page contains information around how long doctors remain in New Zealand after their initial registration.
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We serve Aotearoa New Zealand by protecting public health and safety. We do this by setting and promoting standards for the medical profession.
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You can apply to access the full medical register, but before you apply make sure you know what information the register holds. Whether your application is approved or not depends on what you want to do with the information.
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All international medical graduates (IMGs) registered in a provisional general, provisional vocational and special purpose scope of practice must be supervised. This is to support their practice while they become familiar with the New Zealand health system and the expected standard of medical practice.
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This area of our site contains detailed information about the medical workforce in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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In some circumstances you can be restored to the medical register if your registration has been cancelled. This page outlines how to apply to be restored to the register.
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How you apply for a practising certificate will depend on whether or not you are already registered in New Zealand, if you have worked in New Zealand before, and how long it has been since you last practised. If you already hold a practising certificate, please see our page on renewing your practising certificate instead.
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Special purpose research scope of practice is for doctors who come to New Zealand temporarily to undertake research. This special purpose scope is available for a maximum of two years and practise is restricted to research approved by a formally-constituted ethics committee in New Zealand.
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If you hold an approved postgraduate medical qualification from the UK, Ireland or Australia and intend to work as a specialist in Aotearoa New Zealand in an approved area of medicine, you can apply via the VOC4 fast-track pathway.
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In our second year as a Toitū carbonreduce certified organisation under ISO 14064-1:2018 and Toitū requirements, Council focused on supporting the implementation of the Environmental Sustainability Strategy and strengthening the accuracy and completeness of emissions reporting.
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Certificates of professional status (COPS) are documents used by medical professional regulators to share information about whether a doctor is in good standing. Doctors applying for registration, restoration or returning from practising outside New Zealand need to provide us with certificates of professional status.
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This dashboard page contains information around changes over time in the number and demographics of registered doctors - doctors on the register with a current practising certificate.
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Special purpose postgraduate training registration is available for doctors looking to come to New Zealand on a temporary basis, to gain experience and skills to take back to their home or sponsor country.
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A Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) is an investigatory body appointed by the Council. Its purpose is to investigate matters and concerns referred to it by the Council about a registered doctor. Although a PCC is appointed by the Council, it is separate from the Council, and regulates its own procedures.
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A recent change to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 sets a new requirement on all health profession regulators, including the Medical Council. We are now required to publish a policy setting out on when we might make public in some way, information about an order or direction made by us about a doctor.
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Doctors get sick too, and when they do it's important that their illness doesn't interfere with their ability to practise medicine safely. A doctor must always be able to practise medicine without putting patients or the public at risk.
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Whenever you use a health or disability service in New Zealand, you are protected by the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Code of Rights). The Code of Rights applies to both public and private facilities, and to both paid and unpaid services. It gives you as a patient, the right to be treated with respect, receive appropriate care, have proper communication, and be fully informed so you can make an informed choice.
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List of our fees effective from 1 July 2026
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Medical Council News is our official newsletter. Published and distributed to the profession regularly, the newsletter contains a summary of the most important recent news as well as articles on topics likely to be of interest to doctors.
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We have approximately 95 staff, including our Chief Executive and senior managers whose activities are overseen by a Council of 12 people who are a mix of doctors and laypeople. Our Chair is Dr Kenneth (Ken) Clark. Joan Simeon is our Manukura (Chief Executive) Officer.
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To ensure that you are continuing to maintain your competence to practise medicine, you must meet recertification programme requirements set by Council, including any minimum continuing professional development (CPD) requirements.
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Our consultation regarding the strengthening of the accreditation framework for prevocational medical training is now open. We invite your feedback.
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Most international medical graduates (IMGs) registered within a provisional general, provisional vocational, or special purpose scope of practice will need to submit a supervision plan with their application. The Council will consider the proposed supervision plan as part of the application process.
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This dashboard page breaks down new doctors by entry pathway (how they qualified for registration in New Zealand) by ethnicity, gender, age group, and the country of their primary medical qualification.
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You can apply for this pathway if you have passed the Australian Medical Council examinations and are registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
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If you, as an international medical graduate (IMG), apply for vocational registration and your application is successful, you will have to complete a provisional vocational registration period. You'll work under supervision for this period, during which we make sure you're competent to practise independently in your chosen field of medicine.
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You can apply for registration via this pathway if, within the last five years, you have passed either the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX Clinical); or Part 1 and Part 2 of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test.
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This pathway is for New Zealand and Australian medical graduates wanting to register within the Provisional General scope of practice to complete their internship.
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If you have concerns about a registered doctor, you can refer the matter to the Council.
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If you trained and qualified as a specialist outside of New Zealand and Australia and wish to work in New Zealand as a specialist you can apply based on overseas training and qualifications and we will assess your case on its merits.
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If you are thinking about practising medicine in New Zealand, there are many things to consider. This page provides an introduction to medical registration, the healthcare system, getting a job and settling in the country.
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This policy explains the requirements to be met to allow doctors with vocational registration in Rural Hospital Medicine or General Practice to obtain an authorisation to provide secondary maternity services, in addition to the practice permitted within their vocational scope of practice.
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To practise medicine in Aotearoa New Zealand you must be registered and have a practising certificate. There are various registration pathways, depending on your qualifications, training, experience, and whether you intend to work in Aotearoa New Zealand permanently or just for a short time for a specific purpose.
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Evaluation of changes to prevocational medical training by Malatest International - end of year report for 2018
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Follow through a series of videos and let us guide you through our process.
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Council is proposing to change the current requirement that international medical graduates registered in the special purpose teleradiology scope of practice must be supervised by doctors based in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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In this review we provide the evidence base that supports Council's vision and principles for recertification and provide educational evidence to support regular practice review (RPR)
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Council is seeking feedback on a proposed change to its processes. Specifically, in relation to advice obtained from medical colleges regarding an international medical graduate’s (IMG) application for registration in a provisional vocational scope of practice.
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The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (The Tribunal) has asked us to publish a summary of its recent decisions. You can access the full decision on their website at the links provided.
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Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand has today released the results of the first Torohia — Medical Training Survey for New Zealand , giving new insights into the experiences of doctors in training across the motu.
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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.
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Between accreditation cycles, the Council monitors prevocational medical training and Aotearoa New Zealand vocational medical training and recertification providers through progress and annual reporting. For medical schools and Australasian vocational training and recertification providers (medical colleges) monitoring is led by the Australian Medical Council, in partnership with the Council.
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From November 2014, Council reviewed and implemented significant changes to prevocational medical training requirements for doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand. The changes aim to improve patient safety and the performance of doctors through provision of high-quality learning.
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In some circumstances you can be restored to the medical register if your registration has been cancelled. See this page to check whether you are eligible for restoration to the register, and how to apply.
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An amendment to our current scopes of practice and prescribed qualifications correcting the commencement date (as published in the New Zealand Gazette on 1 October 2024).
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You can use this form to ask us a question or raise concerns about a health practitioner (doctor).
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Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand’s latest quarterly workforce data shows that women now make up slightly more than half of practising doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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Medical Council Chair Dr Rachelle Love responds to the final report from the Abuse in State Care Royal Commission Inquiry.
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Council collects workforce data from doctors as part of the renewal of practising certificates.
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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.
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We are pleased to announce that we are increasing capacity to sit the NZREX Clinical across 2025, and plan to be able to examine up to 180 candidates over the course of 2025.
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This dashboard page contains further information around the distribution of doctors within New Zealand.
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Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | the Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) is considering making changes to the advanced life support (ACLS) requirement for interns in the Provisional General scope of practice (postgraduate year 1, or PGY1) interns.
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This dashboard page contains information around the distribution of doctors within New Zealand.
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Diagnostic and interventional radiology is the diagnosis and treatment of patients utilising imaging modalities, including general radiography, angiography, fluoroscopy, mammography, ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine and bone densitometry.
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We are proposing two key changes to the comparable health system pathway to registration in the Provisional General scope of practice. We welcome your feedback about these proposed changes before we make any decisions.
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A Review of Prevocational Training Requirements for Doctors in New Zealand: Stage 2 - A second consultation paper on the proposed changes to prevocational training
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Prevocational medical training for interns incorporates aspects of the apprenticeship model of 'learning on the job’ as part of a team. Senior doctors supervise and assess the interns’ performance, providing them with ongoing feedback and gradually increasing their responsibilities.
Prevocational medical training for interns in PGY1 and PGY2 is overseen by prevocational educational supervisors and clinical supervisors.
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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.
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You can make a notification directly to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC). The HDC's role is to promote and protect your rights as set out in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (The Code).
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Council is pleased to publish its revised statement on Treating yourself and those close to you (previously Providing care to yourself and those close to you), in effect from 14 October 2024.
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Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, responsible authorities such as the Medical Council undergo regular independent reviews of how they are carrying out their statutory functions. The Act requires responsible authorities to publish their review report on their website.
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In April 2025, the Minister of Health announced that PAs would be regulated in Aotearoa New Zealand, and that the Council would be the regulator of PAs. This responsibility is now set in legislation. Council is inviting feedback on proposals for how PAs should be regulated in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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The Council offers two clinical supervision courses for clinical supervisors and prevocational educational supervisors. The courses supplement training that supervisors receive from training providers and medical colleges. Courses are available to all supervisors through the ePort platform.
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You cannot work outside the requirements of your scope of practice and any requirements set by Council specific to you. These are shown on your practising certificate. If you are registered within a provisional general, provisional vocational or a special purpose scope of practice, you need our approval of any change to your employment, supervision, position or location.
Once we've received and approved your variation application we will issue you a new practising certificate. -
The Medical Council of New Zealand, in partnership with Te Ohu Rata O Aotearoa (Te ORA), has released an independent research report outlining findings on the current state of cultural safety and health equity delivered by doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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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.
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This dashboard page contains information around international medical graduates, doctors who obtained their primary medical qualification outside of New Zealand.
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This page covers where you can get advice and support if you're thinking about making a notification.
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Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand is inviting feedback on proposals for how PAs should be regulated in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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This pathway is for New Zealand and Australian medical graduates who have successfully completed their internship in Australia and want to register within the General scope of practice.
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Our registration application forms include a range of 'fitness for registration' questions. This page will help guide you should you need to make a declaration about any issues that might affect your fitness for registration.
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The Medical Council of New Zealand |Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa today released the results of its 2025 Workforce Survey, showing continued growth, more diversity, and important shifts in the medical workforce.
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Council is reviewing the core ethical standards it sets for the profession, ensuring the standards reflect both patient expectations and the realities of clinical practice. As part of this work, we have sought feedback from patients and doctors and have now released two reports that reflect their views.
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This page contains information on how to use myMCNZ, our web based portal for doctors.
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Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand is committed to meeting Aotearoa New Zealand's healthcare demands by enabling highly qualified international and locally trained doctors to join the workforce through flexible and efficient registration pathways.
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In this issue we look at the importance of keeping up to date with Council's statements and publications, the outcomes of the research into Council's performance, and cultural competence.
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This dashboard page contains information around doctors with a vocational scope of practice including breakdowns by age, gender, and ethnicity.
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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.
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This dashboard page contains information around Māori and Pacific Peoples doctors in the medical workforce including breakdowns by age, gender, and work role.
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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.
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PHOs provide primary health services either directly or through contracted providers. The services provided aim to improve and maintain the health of the enrolled PHO population, ensuring that general practice services are connected with other health services to ensure a seamless continuum of care.
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In this issue we discuss key initiatives to support our growing workforce, navigating change, the challenges of consulting overseas doctors, and introduce our new informed consent video.
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These are the current standards and have been updated to reflect the changes to ACLS requirements for interns. These standards identify the basic elements that must exist in all accredited prevocational intern training programmes. Providers of prevocational training programmes must demonstrate they meet these accreditation standards.
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To apply for registration as a medical practitioner in New Zealand, or to sit the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX Clinical), you must have a recognised primary medical qualification from a university medical school listed on the World Directory of Medical Schools.
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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.
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All international medical graduates coming to New Zealand to practise medicine for the first time must attend a registration meeting and be able to produce the information we have asked for.
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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.
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The special purpose visiting expert scope of practice enables doctors to come to New Zealand to proctor, demonstrate, assist or teach a new or existing procedure to New Zealand practitioners for a maximum of one week.
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Tell us who you are so we can better direct your enquiry
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This dashboard page contains information around registered doctors, those who are on the register and hold a current practising certificate. You can also view the same data for past quarters.
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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 -
We're pleased to announce the launch of our new data dashboard, now available on our website. This dashboard provides a comprehensive and dynamic overview of registered and practising doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand.
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In the November 2015 edition of Medical Council News we looked at stimulating debate amongst health organisations about the urgent need to address Māori health inequity, concerns around processing laboratory results, retrospective changes to patient records and why British doctors move to New Zealand.
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This dashboard page contains information around new registrations - registrations granted where the doctor was not already on the medical register.
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We want to make sure the information that we provide on our website about making a notification is clear and easy to use. If you have recently looked at our website to find out how to raise a concern about a doctor, we welcome your feedback.
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If you want to work as a specialist in New Zealand, hold the approved New Zealand/Australasian postgraduate qualification, but do not already hold general registration, you can apply down the VOC2 pathway.
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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.
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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.
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In addition to being registered, you must also hold a current practising certificate to practise medicine in New Zealand. You cannot lawfully practise in New Zealand without this certificate.
This section outlines the importance of holding a current practising certificate, the consequences of practising without one, and how to apply for one. -
To practise medicine in New Zealand, you must first gain registration from us. This ensures you are competent and fit to practise.
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This page contains the latest Medical Council notices published in the Gazette for Scopes of Practice, prescribed qualifications and Fees.
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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.
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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.
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In this edition | See how we’re shaping the framework for PA regulation, read our submission to the Ministry of Health consultation Putting Patients First–modernising health workforce regulation, and find out why we believe reform must put patients first while keeping public safety at its core.
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Orthopaedic surgery is the diagnosis and treatment (operative and non operative) of patients with disorders of the musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, ligaments, tendon and peripheral nerves). It includes the management of trauma to the musculoskeletal system and the management of congenital and acquired disorders.
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You can apply for registration through this pathway if you have a primary medical degree from the UK or Ireland and have completed your internship within the UK or Ireland.
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Vocational registration is a form of permanent, specialist registration which allows you to work independently in New Zealand.
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You can apply via this pathway if you have passed Part 1 and Part 2 of the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board (PLAB) test administered by the General Medical Council (GMC), United Kingdom (UK); completed 12-months of satisfactory practice in the UK; and hold full general registration with the GMC.
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One of the ways the Council helps doctors to stay competent is by requiring them to participate in recertification programmes. Regular practice review (RPR) is one part of this continuing professional development.
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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.
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Council's strategic plan sets out our key strategic goals, the outcomes that flow down from our goals, and how we can achieve these outcomes.
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Radiation oncology is the medical care and management of patients with cancer and other medical conditions through the conduct and supervision of radiation treatment, advice and provision of palliative and other supportive care, and advice and provision of other non-surgical cancer; advice and provision of other non-surgical cancer treatment including cytotoxic, hormonal and other drug therapies; participation in clinical trials and research related to cancer management.
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It is the Council’s role to ensure that the quality of training programmes offered by providers of prevocational medical training is of a high standard. Information on accredited prevocational training providers and the Council’s accreditation standards can be found here.
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If you wish to practise medicine in New Zealand you must first gain registration from us. To do this, you must show us that you are qualified, competent and fit for registration.
We register more than 1500 new doctors each year and there are over 16,000 registered doctors practising in New Zealand. More than 40 percent have trained overseas, coming from more than 100 countries.
Use the links below to find out about getting registered to practise here. We recommend you start with ‘how to register’ for an overview. -
You can apply for registration through this pathway if you have recent experience in a comparable health system.
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VOC1 (specialist) registration is for doctors who hold an approved New Zealand / Australasian postgraduate qualification and already hold registration in the General scope of practice.
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Faster, easier registration for overseas-trained doctors to enter Aotearoa New Zealand’s medical workforce
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This page contains important information on approved qualifications, the information to include with your application, and other things that may affect your application for registration in a vocational scope.
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The Minister of Health has announced two new initiatives targeted at overseas doctors who have passed their New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX) examination in the last five years, allowing them to apply for roles in New Zealand that will lead to full registration as a doctor.
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The Chair of Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | The Medical Council of New Zealand, Dr Curtis Walker, reinforced today the technical and complex process required when thoroughly reviewing a doctor’s overseas qualifications, training and experience.
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The Council and the Australian Medical Council (AMC) work together on accrediting the vocational medical training programmes offered by Australasian (joint Australian and New Zealand) vocational providers. If the applicant provider is seeking recognition in Australia (as an Australasian training provider), or if the scope is already recognised in Australia, stage 3 will be led by the AMC, with Council making a decision based on the AMC’s assessment.
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All physician associates (PAs) applying for registration in the PA provisional scope of practice (except those applying via the NZ experiential pathway) must complete a Council-approved induction programme, within the 12 months immediately prior to applying for registration.
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Council is pleased to announce that from 1 November 2024, international medical graduates (IMGs) with an approved postgraduate medical qualification, intending to practise in Aotearoa New Zealand in an approved area of medicine, can apply for specialist registration via a new fast-track registration pathway.