Shortage of doctors moving to Australia due to work visa difficulties
September 28 2009 by Mark Johnstone
Work in Australia as a doctor
A range of new impediments have made it more difficult for trained doctors from overseas to work in Australia, according to medical recruitment experts.
"The recruitment process has become dysfunctional. The medical fraternity has chopped and changed its rules and made it so difficult for us to guide people through the system," said Jennifer Elwin, the director of Adelaide-based Recruit-a-doctor.
She said that much of the red tape, preventing Australia from attracting much-needed doctors from abroad, has come about through changes to medical regulations and accreditation rules.
Although Australia is experiencing skills shortages in terms of its medical professionals, doctors are choosing to live in Canada or New Zealand instead of Australia as these countries hold up less red tape during the immigration process, said Elwin.
She added that doctors from South Africa were particularly put off by the difficulties doctors have had gaining a permanent residency visa to work in Australia.
Elwin added, “We would normally be recruiting 50 to 60 doctors for Australia this year and we're only speaking to a handful.”
Her concerns were echoed by Mark Glazbrook, who works as a migration expert. He said that staff cutbacks in the Australian immigration department has led to 18-month waits for work visas to be issued.
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