Becoming a specialist in Australia can take many years. The first thing that you need to do is get a medical degree from a recognized Australian university. This can take any time between 4-6 years. There are two types of medical degrees in Australia – undergraduate and postgraduate medical degrees. Undergraduate medical degrees can be obtained straight after university whereas postgraduate medical degrees can only be obtained after you have completed a bachelor’s degree.
Once you have completed your medical degree, you will need to complete a year of internship. During internship, you work will primarily be secretarial, but you will have the opportunity to use some of your clinical knowledge during your emergency medicine rotation. Following your internship, you will need to complete a resident year where you essentially do the same job as an intern, but you have more experience. Most residents target their clinical rotations towards the specialty they want to get into.
Following internship and residency, you will be able to apply for a specialist training program. There is high competition in some specialist training programs such as general surgery and neurosurgery. In these specialties, most doctors often do an extra year where they act as an unaccredited trainee to gain skills required to get onto the training program. These skills may include being able to perform a laparoscopic appendicectomy to get onto the general surgery program. There are also unaccredited registrars who do similar jobs to a registrar on a training program, but their rotations are not formally recognized, and therefore, does not count towards their training in becoming a specialist.
Getting into a training program is a significant step towards becoming a fully-fledged specialist. The length of training programs varies depending on the specialty. For example, becoming a general practitioner will require 2-3 years of additional training after your resident year. Becoming a surgeon can take up to 5-7 years. Becoming physician can take up to 5-7 years as well. The purpose of training programs is to ensure that you become clinical competent in the field you choose to specialize in.
Training programs are coordinated by colleges that govern the way medical education is delivered to doctors. If you are planning to become a physician, your affiliation will be with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Similarly, if you are planning to become a surgeon, your affiliation will be with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. There are certain requirements you must fulfil when you are in the training program and again, this varies depending on the specialty you are in. Most colleges mandate their trainees complete some form of exam to ensure competency. Some may have other requirements such as research contributions and teaching.
Once you have completed your training program, you can officially be considered a medical specialist! This is a great achievement and one that takes a lot of responsibility! You are now able to see patients independently and make clinical decisions for them.
