Hospital non-specialists

Employment conditions for hospital non-specialists are determined by individual hospitals. There’s a general uniformity in terms of salary and conditions, and overseas trained doctors (OTDs) are paid at the same rates as Australian trained doctors.

The type of public hospital positions available to an OTD include:

• Internships (typically the one year of supervised training required by the Medical Registration Boards to achieve full medical registration).
• Resident medical officers (RMOs)/Hospital medical officers (HMOs). These are generally doctors in their second or third year of prevocational training.
• Registrars (specialists-in-training).
• Postgraduate trainees (occupational trainees).

Postgraduate trainees

Working in the public hospital system can give you the opportunity to work in Australia while fulfilling any further training or bridging courses you need:

• to pass the Australian Medical Council exams
• to complete the 12 months of supervised clinical practice required as part of the Australian medical registration process
• or even just to provide training opportunities in various specialties.

Some Australian hospitals may be able to help OTDs with relocation expenses and provide temporary accommodation when you arrive. Check with your hospital for more information once your job is confirmed.

Working in a public hospital as a hospital non-specialist means you don’t usually need a Medicare provider number to provide Medicare billing services to patients. OTDs are otherwise restricted as to where they can work if they want to bill Medicare services, so the public hospital system offers excellent employment opportunities.

You still need a Medicare provider number to:

• make referrals to specialist services
• request pathology or diagnostic imaging services
• prescribe medications

but these activities are not affected by Medicare provider number restrictions.

Medicare provider number restrictions
Medicare provider number application form