NZREX (New Zealand Registration Examination :NZREX Clinical)for doctors aspiring to work in New Zealand health sector. This is the story of some of the doctors and the challenges and barriars successfuly practice in New Zealand. The email below was sent to MAG in 2018 after became aware of this issues and reached out to support and advocate on their behalf. Read on.

NZREX Doctors plight email sent to MELAA ADVISORY GROUP: October 18, 2021

Every day we see on the news how overworked our doctors are and how the patients suffer due to these inadequacies. We hear stories about people being on the waiting list for health treatments many months at a time. There were a few weeks this winter when our emergency departments were unable to cope with the demand and asked sick patients to not come to the hospitals.

We also hear about how so many GPs are going to retire soon, how GP clinics have exhausted their quotas for patients and how DHBs are spending millions of dollars on overseasmarketing to attract doctors to New Zealand.Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand has caused further stress on the healthcare systemand healthcare professionals who are at the verge of breaking.

Despite all of this, there are tens if not hundreds of qualified, competent doctors in New Zealand struggling to find a job. We are a group of 50+ doctors who have experience working in our own countries, before moving to New Zealand and being found competent by the Medical Council of New Zealand through their rigorous testing process. We are able andwilling to work and most importantly are already here in New Zealand. Most of us are willing to relocate to other parts of the country too, if that is where our services are required. Unfortunately, there have been very few jobs advertised for us in the recent years.

We have worked as observers in hospital environments, in GP clinics, as health care assistants, as medical receptionists, at covid testing centres and at vaccinations centres among other areas. We have seen first-hand the dire need for more doctors in hospitals and more GPs in clinics, yet we are told that there are no vacancies for us.

The list of such stories is endless. There is no doubt that New Zealand is facing an acute shortage of doctors and this is leading to severe health consequences for the wider community. This government website aims to attract overseas doctors to come work in NZ and identifies
resident medical officers (RMOs) and GPs as roles for which there are “not enough qualified New Zealanders”:
https://www.live-work.immigration.govt.nz/work-in-new-zealand/job-market-key-industries/healthcare

In the last 5 years, 212 doctors were found to be competent by the medical council of NZ through their extensive and rigorous assessment program. Hardly a handful were able to secure a job. This consequently led to the vast majority of competent, qualified doctors being forced either into lower skilled roles despite shortage of doctors or becoming a burden on the taxpayer by forced to seek unemployment benefits.

Some solutions to this could be to create more funding for additional PGY1 positions per DHB, another could be resumption of bridging course leading to GP training of doctors (already functional in UK and Australia and previously trialed in NZ). Something similar will certainly have a positive impact on our lives and on the lives of thousands of others in our communities.

Another solution could also be issuing annual practicing certificate and annual renewals if NZREX doctors can do CME/CPD, this enable NZREX doctors utilise their skills and knowledge in other health related jobs whilst waiting for employment from DHB (Now Te Whatu Ora / Health New Zealand). A solution can also be a one off registration for all NZREX passed doctors who are in New Zealand at the moment which can reduce the anxiety which is coming from the 5year validity time frame of their exams. Incorporating NZREX into the Ace system which opens the recruitment process to NZREX doctors as well and remove the barrier of bias.

Kindly support us so that this can be addressed with the decision-makers in the health sector.

Undersigned by all the doctors who are currently unemployed.
Note:
Names supplied but withheld to protect the doctor’s privacy.