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This pathway is for specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) who have an international specialist medical qualification that is on the Medical Board’s Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list.
If you are eligible, you can apply directly to the Board for specialist registration. You need to complete six months of supervised practice, cultural safety education, orientation, and work-placed based assessments.
SIMGs seeking specialist registration in Australia.
This pathway leads to specialist registration.
The flowchart outlines the steps to specialist registration through the Specialist pathways including the Expedited Specialist pathway.
Flowchart - Specialist pathways (113 KB, PDF)
All international medical graduates (IMGs) must have a primary qualification in medicine and surgery awarded by a training institution recognised by both the AMC and the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS).
To be eligible for the Expedited Specialist pathway, you must have a specialist qualification that is on the Board’s Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list.
The current specialties on the list are:
The Board will consider the following priority specialties next:
We will continue to add more specialties as prioritised by Australia’s health ministers.
International specialist medical qualifications are assessed against the qualifications assessment criteria for the Expedited Specialist pathway.
You can apply for registration for both of your specialist qualifications. Your qualifications will need to meet the eligibility criteria for registration. Contact Ahpra for more information about the process.
This pathway leads to specialist registration but does not lead to fellowship.
If you want fellowship, contact the relevant specialist medical college to find out what the requirements are while on the Expedited Specialist pathway.
Alternatively, when you apply for specialist registration, you can give us permission to share your contact details with the relevant specialist medical college. We will pass your details on to the college after your specialist registration is granted. The college can give you information about the process to get fellowship.
Colleges are continuous professional development (CPD) homes and can provide professional networks and support. See more information about CPD homes on the Board’s website.
There are different fees charged by different organisations for different purposes.
Use our checklist to gather all the documents you need to apply. The checklist lists all the information and documents you will need. While we are updating the online form, use the checklist as your primary reference point.
Checklist: Expedited Specialist Pathway – Specialist registration (1.37 MB, PDF)
You must complete a period of supervised practice (usually six months).
You will need to submit a supervised practice plan which includes your proposed supervision arrangements and nominating a supervisor and a proposed specialist position for the Board to approve. This can be done when you apply for registration or after registration has been granted.
The Board has developed an information sheet that outlines the requirements for supervised practice and sets out the factors the Board considers when deciding whether to approve a nominated supervised practice arrangement.
You can apply for specialist registration. The Medical Board will place conditions on your specialist registration so you can meet the requirements of the specialist registration standard, including six months of supervised practice, an orientation to the Australian healthcare and cultural safety education.
When you have met these requirements, you can apply to have the conditions removed.
Apply for registration online in the Ahpra portal.
Once you have set up your Ahpra portal and are ready to start your application, watch this video. It will help you answer the initial questions, so you apply for the right pathway and registration type.
We still use PDF forms for some information, including the supervised practice plan (SPPA-00). We recommend you upload the PDF documents as part of your application; the online form will prompt you when to upload the documents.
We recommend that you apply at least three months before your intended start date, we can accept applications as early as six months before you intend to start work.
You can nominate an authorised representative (e.g. your employer or a recruiter) in the online application form or using this form Authorised representative nomination form - ANOM -00.
Your authorised representative needs to have an Ahpra portal account.
More information for authorised representatives is available on the Ahpra website.
Registration standards set out the requirements to apply for registration and for ongoing registration.
When you apply you must meet these standards:
You also need to meet Registration standard: Specialist registration (2024) when you apply for registration for the first time.
After you are granted registration, you also need to meet these standards:
See the mandatory registration standards on the Board’s registration standards page.
You can start practising when the Medical Board has granted you specialist registration and approved your supervised position and supervised practice plan.
You need to satisfactorily complete six months of supervised practice, orientation and cultural safety education, and other workplace-based assessments.
While you are completing your supervised practice, you must:
Submit orientation and supervised practice report.
See What supervision forms do I need to submit while I hold specialist registration (with conditions)?
Satisfactorily complete six months of supervised practice including:
Apply to the Medical Board to have the conditions removed.
You will need to provide a final supervision report and evidence of completed requirements.
See What supervision forms do I need to submit while I hold specialist registration (with conditions)?.
You must complete an orientation to the Australian healthcare system and cultural safety education during your period of supervised practice. These requirements must be included in the supervised practice plan that you submit to the Board for approval.
More information about the evidence needed is in the Board’s Evidence guide: Eligibility for specialist registration.
See the Board’s orientation page and cultural safety education page for more details.
To ensure you are safe, ethical and competent in your specialist practice, you must complete formal competency assessments against seven domains during your supervised practice. The assessments include:
Forms for the assessments:
For more information about the WBAs, and the forms, see the Board’s supervised practice requirements page.
While you hold specialist registration (with conditions), you and your supervisor need to complete two reports to the Board after three months of practice:
After successfully completing six months of supervised practice, you can apply to have your conditions removed. You and your supervisor need to complete reports to the Board, including:
All forms for SIMGs on the Expedited Specialist pathway are on the Board's Supervised practice requirements page.
Complete the PDF form below and submit it by logging in to the Ahpra portal and using the document upload function.
You need to have a continuous professional development (CPD) home and do 50 hours of CPD each calendar year.
On this pathway, you will need to include in your CPD program any high-level requirements for your specialty.
You can choose an AMC-accredited CPD home suitable for your scope of practice – either a specialist medical college or non-college CPD home. The CPD homes are listed on the About CPD homes page.
General information about CPD is on the Board’s CPD page.
If you are registered on the Specialist pathway, you may be able to transition to the Expedited specialist pathway if you have a qualification that is on the Board’s Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list.
If you currently hold limited registration, you can choose to:
If you have not met the relevant supervised practice requirements, your specialist registration will be subject to conditions that enable you to meet this requirement.
If you have an application for limited or provisional registration pending when the Expedited Specialist pathway for your specialty opens (including an application for renewal), Ahpra will contact you to discuss your options.
If you currently hold provisional registration, you can choose to:
If you have not met the relevant supervised practice requirements, your specialist registration will be subject to conditions to enable you to meet this requirement. When all requirements are met, you may be eligible for both general and specialist registration.
The Medical Board publishes data on the Expedited Specialist pathway collected by Ahpra.
FAQs for SIMGs are on the Board’s FAQs page.
Email [email protected] for enquiries about the Expedited Specialist pathway.
