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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This policy, which comes into effect on 1 April 2020, sets out on when we might make public in some way, information about an order or direction made by us about a doctor.

This report outlines the findings of our evaluation of the ‘Welcome to practice in Aotearoa New Zealand’ workshops for international medical graduates.

This draft statement sets out legal and ethical considerations as a doctor when responding to a medical emergency. It also discusses a number of factors you should consider when you attend to a medical emergency, whether that emergency is within a healthcare facility, or in a non-clinical setting, such as in the community.

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

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.

This guide sets out the information required of accredited training providers who are preparing for an accreditation site visit. This guide should be read alongside the self-assessment for training providers to apply for accreditation for prevocational medical training.

This guide sets out the information required for accredited New Zealand training organisations who are preparing for a Medical Council of New Zealand (Council) assessment for reaccreditation. This guide applies to the current standards that are in effect until 30 June 2020.

Training and/or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme providers can be required
to report on an annual or specified basis to Council as a condition of their accreditation. This guide
provides an outline of the expected structure of an annual- or progress report. This guide applies to the current standards that are in effect until 30 June 2020.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

This policy outlines the requirements you must meet in order to be issued a general scope without limitations.

This document outlines the various options available to the Notifications Triage Team (NTT) and Council when considering a notification about a doctor.

This statement outlines the rights and responsibilities of health care workers and infected health care workers in relation to transmissible major viral infections.

These standards only apply until 1 July 2020. This document outlines the standards New Zealand Colleges must meet in order to be reaccredited.

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.

These guidelines set out the roles and responsibilities for international medical graduates (IMGs) coming to work in New Zealand, and their employers and supervisors.

This document sets out Council’s Policy in regards to prevocational medical training. It outlines the requirements for each component of prevocational medical training from PGY1 through to the end of PGY2.

This policy applies if you're applying for registration temporarily to teach, train, carry out research, work as a locum tenens specialist, assist in an emergency or work as a teleradiologist.

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.

Under the HPCAA, doctors can have their competence or performance reviewed at any time, or in response to concerns about their practice. This guide outlines what you can expect if you are undergoing a performance assessment

This document sets out Council’s policy in regards to accrediting training providers of prevocational medical training (training providers) and their clinical attachments. It outlines the components of the accreditation assessment.

This guide sets out the accreditation process for Aotearoa New Zealand-only vocational training providers that are currently accredited by MCNZ. It applies both to currently accredited providers seeking reaccreditation, as well as unaccredited providers seeking accreditation.

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.

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.

Doctors are often asked to sign certificates for a wide range of purposes, such as confirming sickness, impairment or death. This statement outlines factors to consider, and the standards that doctors must follow, when issuing a medical certificate.

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.

The purpose of this agreement is to set out the terms of reference for the collegial relationship and clarify the objectives and responsibilities of each colleague.

If you wish to apply for the NZREX Clinical, you must meet the requirements outlined in this Policy. You will also need to submit a recent photo in order to apply for the NZREX Clinical, this policy also outlines the requirements for the photo we need.

This guide outlines the essential skills and competencies an intern needs to accomplish by the end of prevocational medical training.

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.

To apply for registration within a special purpose (locum tenens) scope of practice, you must first hold an approved postgraduate qualification in the branch of medicine in which you want to work, and then meet remaining requirements outlined in the registration policy.

In order to practise in New Zealand you must be both registered and hold a current practising certificate. This policy outlines Council's rules around practising certificates.

Council has not issued standards specific to practice within the purpose of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (EOLCA). Council considers that the provision of health services under the EOLCA falls within the wider practice of medicine, to which Council’s statements are directed. This document sets out existing Council statements alongside the relevant sections of the EOLCA.

A one-page visual guide outlining the registration pathways available to International Medical Graduates, including both permanent and temporary options.

Patients are entitled to information about their health and the care they are receiving. This statement outlines what we expect of doctors when helping patients to make an informed decision about their care and treatment.

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.

The New Zealand Curriculum Framework for Prevocational Medical Training (NZCF) outlines the learning outcomes to be substantively completed in PGY1 and by the end of PGY2

You can request to withdraw from a particular sitting of the NZREX Clinical, or request to transfer to another sitting. This policy sets out the process for applicants to transfer or withdraw from the NZREX Clinical and the associated fee or refund for each process.

In this issue of Medical Council News, we look at outcomes and initiatives from the Council’s planning day, our discussion paper Better Data – the benefits to the profession and the public, Council’s revised Statement on advertising, doctors’ responsibilities around aviation safety and the need to provide more detail on medical certificates.

This draft statement outlines what is expected of doctors when harm to patients occurs as a direct result of medical care. See the consultation section of our website to provide feedback on this draft statement.

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.

Doctors must meet the standards laid out in the Council’s statement on Good Prescribing Practice. (The Principles for Quality and Safe Prescribing Practice are already reflected in our statement on prescribing.) This document is a helpful resource, particularly for new doctors and IMGs new to New Zealand, that can be read alongside our statement. These principles were developed jointly by 7 responsible authorities.

PGY1 and PGY2 interns can only practise medicine in accredited clinical attachments. This document outlines the standards clinical attachments must meet to be accredited. These standards should be considered alongside the accreditation standards for training providers.

This statement outlines the doctor's responsibility to maintain sexual boundaries with patients, includes advice on what to do if boundaries are threatened, and offers guidance on sexual relationships with former patients and with family members of patients.

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.

This statement outlines Council's expectations of doctors who perform cosmetic procedures. These include standards relating to training, skill and expertise, advertising and obtaining consent from the patient.

Certain medicines have the potential to enhance athletic performance or an individual's physique. We set out in this statement our position on doctors who prescribe, administer and supply performance-enhancing medicines, or who assist others in doing so.

These standards will come into effect on 1 July 2022. The standards outline the standards vocational training providers need to meet in order to be accredited to provide vocational medical training and recertification programmes. We have made revisions to update recertification, cultural safety, health equity and specialist assessment of IMG content.

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.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) refers to therapies and treatments that are not commonly accepted in conventional medical practice, but are sometimes used alongside or instead of conventional medical treatments. This statement guides doctors in situations where their patients are using CAM, and outlines what we expect when doctors practise CAM.

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.

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.

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.