Migrant doctors worry about prospects as officials look overseas to fill shortages

Migrant doctors already in the country are worried they will be overlooked as Health New Zealand tries to attract more international doctors. Photo / 123RF

By Soumya Bhamidipati of RNZ

Migrant doctors already in the country are worried they will be overlooked as Health New Zealand tries to attract more international doctors.

About 80 doctors in New Zealand, who graduated from medical schools overseas, say they cannot get the hospital internships they need to be fully fledged practitioners here.

Meanwhile, workforce shortages continue to plague the sector.

Isha graduated from a medical school in China in 2012. A New Zealand citizen, she has been here since 2015 and passed the registration exam two years later.

The five years which followed have been increasingly heartbreaking, as her dream of being a doctor fades away.

Isha said she could not get a first-year supervised role because of a lack of positions and now her registration had expired.

"Throughout, not even a single day has gone by without me not thinking where I am professionally," she said.

"My everyday job involves working with the doctors, so how would I feel knowing that I could be that, I could be this, but I'm never even given an opportunity."

On the other hand, John Egbuji, who graduated from the Philippines, managed to get a supervised position four months after passing the exam. But that was unusual, Egbuji said.

There should not be so many hoops to jump through, especially when candidates could prove their previous experience, he said.

"There's also an English requirement so in addition to passing the theoretical exam, which I should add is in English, you actually have to sit a separate English examination regardless of what you've done prior.

"Prior to sitting the exam I had lived in New Zealand, I had taught at Auckland medical school and at Otago medical school. I actually came into New Zealand having sat that English exam prior, but the exam is only valid for two years, so I ended up having to sit the exam again, even though I'd been teaching medical students in English."

It was not uncommon for migrant doctors to teach at New Zealand medical schools, only to be overlooked for supervised positions in favour of their students, who had preference as local graduates, he said.

Recently, Health Minister Andrew Little announced a suite of initiatives aimed at bringing in more international doctors to help address the workforce pressures.

However, Auckland doctor and co-founder of the Middle Eastern, Latin American and African Advisory Group, Carolyn Providence, said there was concern the new arrivals would leapfrog those already here.

"We're not hearing anything at all for the doctors who have already been in New Zealand.

"These are doctors who have passed the NZREX [New Zealand Registration Examination] exams - they're now deemed to be at a level that is competent and equal to those who come from a comparable medical pathway, because that is the function of the clinical exam."

There needed to be a clear pathway for overseas graduates to progress into the internships, and the Government needed to be more transparent about its plan, Providence said.

Health New Zealand said it understood the challenges doctors from non-comparable health systems faced, but said it would be piloting two programmes to support them.

One programme had 10 positions available, but those who completed it would still need to get a supervised position, Te Whatu Ora said.

The other programme would target people who wanted to specialise in general practice, but would also only take up to 10 candidates.

It was still working on the details of the schemes, including the selection process and criteria, Health New Zealand said.