This guide outlines the role of the advisory panel as well as providing information on ePort use for advisory panel members.

This form outlines additional information required by ANZCA for applications in anaesthesia.

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.

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 form outlines the additional information that we will require as part of an application for provisional vocational registration in psychiatry.

This document outlines the policy, process and guidelines for recognition of a new vocational scope of practice.

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.

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

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.

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.

Internet, email, and other forms of electronic communication are ways in which doctors communicate with patients and other health professionals, find information, and participate in informed discussion. This statement guides doctors on the use of email and other forms of social media.

This form outlines the additional information that will be required by the RANZCOG so it can provide us with advice on your application for vocational registration in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Half of the APC (practising fee and disciplinary levy) will be refunded to doctors earning $20,000 or less per annum from the practice of medicine in New Zealand or overseas.

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.

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

Our current scopes of practice and prescribed qualifications (as published in the New Zealand Gazette on 5 April 2023, Notice no. 2023-gs1359).

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.

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.

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 covers a number of NZREX-related policies including pass criteria, serious concerns and critical incidents, request for resits, feedback, and recount of results.

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).

Vaccination is a crucial part of the New Zealand public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Health practitioners can help to protect themselves, their patients, and the wider community by getting their COVID-19 vaccination.

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

Under sections 11 and 13 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand (“Council”) gives notice of an amendment to the notice titled “Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Notice 2024.

Under sections 11 and 13 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand (“Council”) gives notice of an amendment to the notice titled “Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Notice 2024.

This gazette notice lists the scopes of practice and prescribed qualifications for Physician Associates.

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

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.

Doctors are sometimes asked by a third party (such as an insurance company or ACC) to conduct medical assessments of patients. This statement explains the role of the assessing doctor and the standard of care expected of them within an assessing relationship.

Under section 14 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (“Act”), Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa |
Medical Council of New Zealand (“Council”) gives notice of an amendment to the notice titled “Scopes of Practice and
Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Notice 2024” published in the New Zealand Gazette, 30 September 2024, Notice No. 2024-sl4580

It is recommended that in every Collegial Relationship meeting time is set aside to review and develop the doctor’s PDP. The goal of the PDP is to encourage reflective practice and to provide a means of addressing identified learning needs.

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.

In addition to completing the RACP Additional Information Form, complete these supplementary specialty-specific questions for neonatal and perinatal medicine.

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.

Prevocational Training Requirements for Doctors in
New Zealand: a discussion paper on options for an enhanced training framework

The Standards for accreditation of specialist medical training programmes are jointly agreed and applied by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ). Australasian colleges are required to apply the New Zealand specific criteria in addition to the AMC standards.

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 pamphlet explains the role of a Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) and what to expect if you are referred to a PCC.

This form lists the additional information the RACS requires if you're applying for vocational registration in cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, otolaryngology head & neck surgery, paediatric surgery, plastic & reconstructive surgery, urology, and vascular surgery.

This guide is for accredited training providers who are preparing for a Council accreditation assessment. This guide provides training providers with detailed information as to what the Council expects you to provide in your self-assessment.

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 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.

This pamphlet explains the role of a Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) and what to expect if your notification about a doctor is referred to a PCC.

We've drafted these standards to align with new recertification requirements. They will be effective from 1 July 2022. Before this time, providers will need to show evidence they are progressing towards implementing these requirements.

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.

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 document is a guide for interns and includes information on what MSF is about and step-by-step instructions to complete the process.

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.

We are consulting with stakeholders on the proposed introduction of a fee for the accreditation of New Zealand-based vocational training and recertification providers.

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)

Authentic, authoritative and comprehensive references are necessary to ensure that Council can make decisions related to the applicant’s fitness and competence to practise medicine in New Zealand.

We are reviewing our statement on Advertising. This draft statement highlights several ethical issues that arise with advertising such as the potential for overtreatment, and the power and knowledge imbalance between a doctor and a patient.

This statement acknowledges that health inequities and inequalities continue to exist for Māori, and that there are disparities in the delivery of health care to Māori. It encourages all health organisations to examine their partnership with Māori through genuine engagement, representation and participation.

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

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.

As the regulator of the medical profession, the Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) plays a key role to ensure public safety and to assure and maintain public trust and confidence in the profession; including that doctors continue to maintain high standards of competence.

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 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

Practice intentions - To be completed by doctors applying for a PC to return to work after an absence of three or more years

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 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.

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.

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 guide outlines the requirements for PGY1 and PGY2

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.

The purpose of the CPD Associate agreement is to assist you in maintaining safe and competent practice, and to clarify your responsibilities, as well as those of the CPD associate.

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.

Currently, there is no requirement for applicants for this examination to have had any clinical practice experience. This consultation seeks views on the merits of introducing a requirement that individuals applying to sit the NZREX must have had clinical practice experience and if so, then what that should be.

Checklist 2: United Kingdom and Irish medical graduates - only for use with online applications made via myMCNZ

Application form for provisional vocational registration if you hold an approved postgraduate medical qualification.

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 are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to record any optional activities you complete - that is, activities that are not specifically required.

Application for vocational registration if you don't hold an approved postgraduate medical qualification from New Zealand or Australia.

New Zealand and Australian graduates: This checklist will help you to confirm your eligibility for registration, tell you what documents you need to provide, and will tell you what documents you need to have verified at source by EPIC.

Checklist 2: United Kingdom and Irish medical graduates - Part A: Checklist for registration in New Zealand

Doctors accompanying individuals or groups of people visiting New Zealand who will provide medical diagnosis, treatment or advice only to those individuals or groups, and who are not registered with the Medical Council will not be required to obtain registration and a practising certificate, so long as they restrict their practice to those individuals or groups for the duration of their visit.

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.

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.

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.

If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to keep a record of any peer review you do.

Special Purpose: Visiting Expert - Application for approval of invitation and supervision

If you are in a collegial relationship, you should use this form to record the details of any audits of your medical practice.

Complete this form to confirm you are enrolled and actively participating in an approved recertification programme.

Employer application for approval of position and supervisor (UK & Irish graduates, comparable health system, and locum tenens pathways)

In this issue of Medical Council News we look at workplace bullying. It's an issue that is everyone's responsibility and something we should all have zero tolerance for. We also look at new and revised statements on self-care, advertising and telehealth, and the use of the internet.

Resource constraints are a reality in health care. For doctors, this often means prioritising based on clinical need and waiting lists. This statement guides doctors working in a resource-constrained environment by setting out ethical principles and practical advice.

Form to confirm that the doctor is enrolled and actively participating in Inpractice, the recertification programme for doctors registered in the General scope of practice.

APPLICATION FORM SUPERSEDED - Please use the new REG12 form
Application for a practising certificate for an IMG registered in a provisional general scope returning to medical practice in New Zealand.

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.

Application for a practising certificate for doctors registered in a provisional or special purpose locum tenens scope who are returning to medical practice in New Zealand. This form supersedes the REG9 and REG11 forms.

Supervision report for IMGs on a provisional vocational or special purpose scope doing telemedicine, pathology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, public health medicine and medical administration.

The vocational practice assessment (VPA) is Council’s preferred tool for assessing competence and applies specifically to IMGs that Council deem eligible for registration within a provisional vocational scope of practice (assessment pathway).

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 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.

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.

In 2019, Council released strengthened Recertification requirements for vocationally-registered doctors practising in New Zealand. Council is now reviewing its accreditation standards for providers of vocational recertification programmes to ensure these align with the new recertification requirements.

If you're applying for registration in the vocational scope and did your postgraduate training outside of New Zealand and Australia, this policy outlines the rules that will apply when we consider your application.

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.

Report on our progress with strategic directions and initiatives for the 12 month period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017

Report on our progress with strategic directions and initiatives for the 12 month period from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018