Coming soon – Expedited Specialist pathway

A new Expedited Specialist pathway – a direct route to specialist registration for specialists with specific qualifications – is coming soon.

The new pathway will be available to specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) with a specialist qualification the Medical Board has assessed as substantially equivalent, or based on similar competencies, to an approved Australian specialist qualification in the specialty.

How will it work?

The Board will publish a list of qualifications that determine eligibility for the Expedited Specialist pathway.

SIMGs with a qualification on the Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list will be eligible to apply for specialist registration through the Expedited Specialist pathway and will need to meet other specialist registration requirements. SIMGs on the Expedited Specialist pathway will not need to apply to a specialist medical college for an assessment of their specialist qualification.

Eligible SIMGs on the Expedited Specialist pathway will be granted specialist registration with conditions that allow them to work as a specialist while undertaking six months of supervised practice, cultural safety education and an orientation to the Australian healthcare system.

When all requirements are met, these specialists will be granted unconditional specialist registration.

When does it start?

The Expedited Specialist pathway is expected to open for general practice late October 2024, subject to health ministers’ approval of the revised registration standard for specialist registration.

Eligible SIMGs will be able to apply for specialist registration in general practice through the Expedited Specialist pathway as soon as the registration standard has been approved and the application forms are published on the Board’s website.

The Expedited Specialist pathway is expected to open to internationally qualified specialists with eligible qualifications in anaesthesia, obstetrics and gynaecology, and psychiatry by December 2024.

Other medical specialties will be included in the Expedited Specialist pathway progressively, reflecting the workforce priorities set by Australia’s health ministers.

Transitional arrangements for SIMGs currently registered on the Specialist pathway

When the Expedited Specialist pathway opens, the Board will accept applications for specialist medical registration from SIMGs with a qualification published on the Board’s Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list.

If you are a SIMG who is currently registered on the Specialist pathway and you are eligible for the Expedited Specialist pathway and:

• you hold limited registration, you can apply for specialist registration through the Expedited Specialist pathway when it opens OR wait to apply until your limited registration is due for renewal and surrender your limited registration when your specialist registration is approved. 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
• you hold provisional registration, you can stay on the Specialist pathway with provisional registration OR apply for specialist registration when the Expedited Specialist pathway opens. 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. When all requirements are met, you may be eligible for both general and specialist registration.

If you have an application for limited registration pending when the Expedited Specialist pathway opens (including an application for renewal), Ahpra will contact you to discuss your options.

More detailed information, including the Expedited Specialist pathway: accepted qualifications list, will be published on the Board’s website before the pathway launches.