Ukrainian Medical Council

Ukraine, Kiev

Ivan Franko str. 25/40, оf.2

+38(044) 592-05-75

+38(050) 405-03-47

To work in New Zealand, you first have to confirm eligibility for registration as a doctor. All matters to do with registration and examination are administered by the Medical Council of New Zealand.

First visit the Medical Council's website www.mcnz.org.nz to assess yourself against the standard of a New Zealand trained doctor.

Contact the Medical Council directly to make application for registration before you make any applications for employment.

Contact the Ukrainian Medical Council for consultation on application process and for other help with translation and certification of the documents it requires.

UMC also issues certificates of registration and certificates of good standing.

PO Box 11-649
Wellington
Phone +64 4 384 7635
Fax +64 4 385 8902

Email mcnz@mcnz.org.nz.

All matters to do with your eligibility to immigrate to this country should be discussed with the nearest New Zealand consular office. These are usually located in the New Zealand Embassy or High Commission in most overseas countries.

NZ Locums holds the New Zealand Rural GP Locum Scheme, and arranges locum and temporary and permanent placements throughout the country.

Locum agencies:

NZLocums
PO Box 547
Wellington, 6140
Phone +64 4 472 3901
Email: enquiries@nzlocums.com

Auckland Medical Bureau*
PO Box 37-753
Parnell
Phone +64 9 377 5903

New Zealand Medical Staffing Ltd*
PO Box 74-385
Phone +64 9 623 8004 or +64 9 630 1769

There are two medical schools in New Zealand, one is based in Auckland (Auckland University Faculty of Medical Health and Sciences) and the other in Dunedin (Otago School of Medical Sciences). The former has a branch in Waikato and the latter also has branches in Christchurch and Wellington.

Registration

Scopes of Practice

In New Zealand there are no registration categories (eg full registration, specialist registration). Instead, doctors are registered in a 'scopes of practice'. Your scope of practice will depend on your qualifications, experience and the purpose and duration of your employment in New Zealand.

Consequently doctors in New Zealand are registered within one or more scopes of practice rather than needing a particular type of registration.

There are three categories of scopes of practice:

general – e.g. resident medical officers (RMO) & junior doctors in vocational training
vocational – e.g. doctors who have completed their vocational training and have been awarded (or gained) a postgraduate qualification
special purpose scopes – e.g. doctors visiting New Zealand for a specific reason such as a locum tenens for up to 12 months

The two additional scopes, provisional general scope and provisional vocational scope, require doctors to work under supervision for at least 12 months.

scheme new zeland

All new registrants (except New Zealand and Australian graduates who have completed an internship in NZ or Australia), regardless of seniority, must work under supervision for a period of time in New Zealand to become familiar with the New Zealand Health System. During this time they are registered within a provisional general scope of practice and their performance will be assessed by senior consultants. They will be required to complete certain requirements to be registered within a general scope.

Registration self assessment tool

Use registration self assessment tool to determine which pathway to registration (as a medical practitioner in New Zealand) you might be eligible for (doesn’t cover student electives).

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/get-registered/registration-self-assessment-tool/

Applying for a practising certificate

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/maintain-registration/practising-certificate/

Every doctor must hold a current practising certificate to practise medicine in
New Zealand.

With a practicing certificate you are authorised, and considered competent and fit to practise medicine within the scope of practice and conditions given on your certificate.

Your employer is responsible for ensuring all doctors they employ are properly registered and certified to practise.

Practising certificates:

are valid for up to 12 months
are not backdated
authorise you to practise medicine within the scope of practice and conditions given on your certificate.

If you’ve not been issued a practising certificate before, you need to apply for registration to practise medicine in New Zealand instead. Your application for a practising certificate will be considered as part of the registration process.

Get registered to practise medicine

If your practising certificate has expired and you intend to practise in New Zealand, you need to request a practising certificate application form, after you receive a job offer.

Policy: returning to practice after 3 years

Practise intention form

If you have worked outside New Zealand since the last time your practising certificate practising certificate had been issued to you, you must request a certificate of good standing for each country or board you were registered (or licensed) with during this time.

Your certificate of good standing must be sent direct to Medical Council of New Zealand from that country or board and must be less than 3 months old from your new New Zealand employment start date.

Practising certificate application forms

Detailed information:

Guide to completing a Practising Certificate application

Practising certificate application form

Practising certificates disclosure

Supervision

Supervision is a requirement for registration for all new doctors registered in a provisional general, provisional vocational and special purpose scope of practice. It ensures a doctor is competent and fit to practice medicine.

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/maintain-registration/supervision/

Supervision is the provision of guidance and feedback on matters of personal, professional and educational development in the context of a doctor’s experience of providing safe and appropriate patient care.

Purpose of Supervision

Supervision enables a doctor’s performance to be assessed over time, while they become familiar with:

The New Zealand health system
The required standard of medical practice

The following doctors must be supervised:

All international medical graduates (IMGs) registered on a provisional general, provisional vocational and special purpose scope of practice - all doctors registered within these scopes of practice must work under supervision for an initial period specified by Council.

Orientation is an introduction and overview to medical practice in New Zealand.

Induction is the familiarization of systems and processes of the worksite and the individual service of departments

Orientation, Induction and Supervision booklet

Education and Supervision for Interns

Fees, forms and checklists

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/maintain-registration/fees-forms-and-checklists/

NZREX

If doctors do not satisfy the requirements for registration within a provisional general scope of practice, another option may be to sit the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX).

To be eligible to apply to sit, candidates must:

Hold a medical degree listed in the Avicenna International Medical Education Directory
Meet English language policy requirements, which may include completing the IELTS test (International English Language Testing System)
Have passed the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Steps 1 and 2 (Clinical Knowledge)

In addition they may also:

have passed the Australian Medical Council MCQ examination
have passed the Professional and Linguistics Assessments Board Part 1, administered by the General Medical Council within the last five years

Detailed information about NZREX:

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/get-registered/registration-exam-nzrex-clinical/

Doctors who satisfy the requirements for admission to a branch or sub-branch of medicine (specialties) can apply for provisional vocational registration. The doctor's qualifications training and experience will be assessed by both MCNZ and the relevant New Zealand or Australasian College and a period of supervision or assessment may be required before the doctor is granted registration in a vocational scope. In New Zealand, general practice is considered a branch of medicine, therefore GPs can apply for vocational registration.

In New Zealand all applications for registration (except vocational) are processed only when a doctor has a confirmed job offer under supervision in an approved hospital, practice or educational institution. The registration application should be submitted to the prospective employer, who will check it and send to the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) with a supporting application.

Fitness to practise

Ensuring doctors are fit to practise medicine is a fundamental purpose of the Medical Council. It protects the public and ensures the doctor is fit to practise within these 3 categories:

Conduct - the professional behaviour of the doctor
Competence - the doctor's application of knowledge and skill
Health - the doctor's own physical and mental wellbeing

Standards for doctors

The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal, the Council's Professional Conduct Committees and the Health and Disability Commissioner may use the "Good medical practice" publication as a standard by which to measure professional conduct.

Good medical practice

Definition of Medicine & Clinical Practice

Definition of fitness to practise

Definition of the ‘practice of medicine’

Definitions of risk of harm and risk of serious harm

More information:

https://www.mcnz.org.nz/fitness-to-practise/