In this year's King's Birthday Honours, several distinguished individuals have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to their fields and their service to Aotearoa | New Zealand. Among them, several eminent medical professionals have been acknowledged for their dedication and commitment to advancing medical practice and improving patient care. 

Associate Professor Rohan Ameratunga, Dr Ian Bissett, Professor John Collins, Dr Barbara Hochstein, Professor Phillippa Poole, Dr Merrick Sanderson, and Dr Matire Harwood stand out for their exceptional contributions to medicine. Their recognition is a testament to the significant roles they play within our medical community and beyond.

Read more about their stories and the full list of the 2024 honourees.

Consultation about an expedited pathway to registration for specialist IMGs

While public safety and maintaining standards of the profession is paramount, it is important that Council continually reviews and updates registration policies and pathways, to ensure they are fit for purpose and enabling, particularly in light of current workforce pressures.

Council is considering prescribing a new qualification (registration pathway) for specialist IMGs. This new qualification will provide for an expedited pathway for specialist registration in the Provisional Vocational scope of practice.

Under the proposed expedited pathway, applications for registration will be determined without seeking and relying on advice from the relevant medical Colleges. This will accelerate the overall process for eligible IMGs to gain Provisional Vocational registration and commence practice. It will also allow medical Colleges to focus resources on more complex applications.

Recognising Council’s overarching objective of ensuring public safety, the pathway would be specifically applied to IMGs who have completed approved postgraduate medical training and in approved areas of medicine. In determining what postgraduate medical training and areas of medicine should be approved, Council will specifically focus on the postgraduate qualifications and areas of medicine that, in Council’s experience, has provided a demonstrably competent and safe cohort of registrants.

🧷Our consultation document explains the proposal in more detail. The document is in two parts:

Part A - Consultation on the proposed pathway to registration (prescribed qualification)

Part B - Request for views on the postgraduate qualifications and areas of medicine that Council may approve.

🧷Your input is important to us. Please provide written submissions and responses by completing the survey questions online.

Alternatively, you can email your response to consultation@mcnz.org.nz.

We look forward to receiving your feedback. The consultation closes on 30 July 2024.