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The Australian health care system has many similarities to the UK system. The fundamental components are the Medicare system and private insurance. The Medicare system provides payments to privately practicing clinicians for consultations and hospital-based treatments.
Private health insurance tends to provide cover for hospital-based care in private and public hospitals. It also covers other services such as physiotherapy and exercise programmes. Private insurance differs from the UK in that it is widely adopted. 46% of the population have private health insurance with varying levels of cover.
Doctors in Australia either work solely in private practice, or in mixed public system and private practice models. Unlike the UK many Australians prefer to use the private system over the public because of quicker access to clinicians.
Whilst there are many similarities between the UK and Australia there are considerable differences too. For instance, the extraordinarily different geography of the two countries means that, while most doctors work in major urban centres, many also work in rural settings and some can work very remotely. This provides doctors the opportunity to work with indigenous communities or part of services such as The Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The process of coming to work in Australia is appears complicated but is navigable. At Sydney Pain Centres you will find a team able to help you every step of the way. We have considerable experience helping doctors migrate and gain credentialing to work here, and we work with a team of consultants who will make everything as smooth and stress free as possible.
Rightly so, there are clear steps to follow to registration with the medical board and credentialing by the college of anaesthetists (ANZCA) and the faculty of pain medicine (FFPMANZCA). Typically, you will need to provide evidence of your training and qualifications, and your Continuing Professional Development history. One this is processed the next step is then an interview with the college. Typically UK trained doctors gained a ‘substantial equivalence’ rating, which is the highest attainable by an overseas doctor. You will then undergo a period of ‘supervised practice, typically six to twelve months, which is then followed by a final workplace assessment. However, during this process you will have full working rights and will be able to practise as a pain management specialist.
209/100 Carillon Avenue Newtown, NSW 2042