Changes to the Competent Authority pathway

23 Dec 2019

We have made some changes to the Competent Authority pathway for international medical graduates (IMGs), to reflect changes made by competent authorities in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The General Medical Council (GMC) and the Medical Council of Ireland (MCI) now accredit medical courses outside the United Kingdom and Ireland respectively.

As a result, the Medical Board of Australia will now accept medical courses accredited by a competent authority that are conducted outside the competent authority country. The changes only apply to category B (courses accredited by the GMC) and category F (courses accredited by the MCI). To be eligible, the course must be on the Board’s list of eligible offshore courses.

The Competent Authority pathway is for overseas-trained non-specialists, and is also available to specialists, including general practitioners. This pathway leads to general registration.

To be eligible for the Competent Authority pathway, an IMG must have both the prescribed assessment and experience required by the Board. The prescribed experience component required in this pathway has not changed and is detailed on the Competent Authority pathway page. The prescribed experience must be in one of the five competent authority countries (UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland).

More information is available on the Competent Authority pathway page.