Routes to Medical Licensing in Australia

For International Medical Graduates (IMGs)

What AHPRA and the Medical Board Actually Are:

To practice medicine legally in Australia, every doctor must hold an official registration—much like needing a driver's license before getting behind the wheel.

The registration system is managed by two main entities:

• AHPRA (Australian Health Practioner Regulation Agency): The government agency that administers the registration system across all health professions.

• The Medical Board of Australia: The specific governing body operating under AHPRA that establishes professional standards for doctors and evaluates registration applications.

In practice, getting "AHPRA registration" and getting "approved by the Medical Board" refer to the exact same overall process.

So “getting AHPRA registration” and “getting approved by the Medical Board” are basically the same process.

If you trained as a doctor outside Australia or New Zealand, you are called an IMG — International Medical Graduate. There are three doors you can walk through to get registered, and which door applies to you depends on where you trained and what qualifications you already hold.

 The 3 Pathways Are:

Who it's for

Doctors who did their specialist training and hold a recognised qualification from the UK, Ireland, the US, or Canada — countries Australia has decided have similarly rigorous training and standards to its own.

Why it exists

Instead of making every UK- or US-trained specialist redo Australian exams from scratch, Australia says: “we trust the training system you came from, so let's just check your specific credentials rather than re-testing your medical knowledge.”

What actually happens

You don't sit the Australian medical exams. Instead, your qualifications (like a UK CCT — Certificate of Completion of Training) get checked against what an equivalent Australian specialist would hold. If your college confirms it's comparable, you can move toward registration much faster than someone starting from zero.

Who it's for

Doctors who are already specialists (e.g., already a qualified cardiologist, psychiatrist, surgeon, etc.) but trained in a country that isn't in the “trusted” competent authority group — for example, India, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, many EU countries, and so on.

Why it exists

Australia still wants to recognise real specialist experience, but because the training system isn't automatically “trusted” the way UK, US, Canada, Ireland training is, someone has to actually look closely at the specific training, case logs, and experience to judge whether it's equivalent.

What actually happens

Instead of AHPRA deciding directly, the file goes to the relevant specialist college — the professional body for that specialty (e.g., the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists for psychiatry, or the equivalent for surgery, internal medicine, etc.). They assess qualifications, training records, and work history, and decide whether it's “substantially comparable” to an Australian-trained specialist in that field.

1.    If yes — specialist registration is granted without sitting the general AMC exams.

2.    If not — the college may ask for a bridging period, extra exams, or further supervised experience.

Why it's slow

This is a detailed, individual human review of an entire career — not a standard test — so it typically takes 6 to 18 months and a lot of paperwork (references, logbooks, certificates, sometimes interviews).

Who it's for

This is the path for most IMGs — doctors who don't hold a recognised specialist qualification, including newer graduates or general (non-specialist) doctors.

Why it exists

Since there's no existing specialist status to lean on, Australia needs proof — through standardised exams — that the doctor has the knowledge and clinical skills expected of anyone practising there.

What actually happens, step by step

1. AMC CAT exam — a computer-based multiple-choice exam (around 150 questions) testing broad medical knowledge across all areas of medicine.

• Once the AMC MCQ, one become eligible to apply to the Medical Board of Australia (via AHPRA) for limited or provisional registration (after securing an approved job offer or starting supervised practice).

Next Steps to General Registration: To fully complete the Standard Pathway and earn your AMC Certificate (which is required for General Registration), you must follow the MCQ pass with a clinical assessment, which can be:

1. The AMC Clinical Examination, or

• After passing both exams, you must complete a 12-month supervised practice period (under provisional registration). Once senior doctors confirm your competence and safety in the Australian healthcare system, you are granted General Registration for independent practice.

2. An AMC-accredited Workplace-Based Assessment (WBA) program (completed after securing a position at an accredited hospital).

Summary

PART 2 — STEP-BY-STEP WALKTHROUGH

The Standard Pathway in Detail

Accounts, portfolio, exam fees and booking — the practical mechanics, in order

The Standard Pathway involves three separate online systems that must be completed in the right order. Many delays happen simply because candidates try to do them out of sequence.

Before you can set up an AMC portfolio, your primary medical degree must be verified by an independent third party. MyIntealth handles this. It replaced the older EPIC system, though EPIC still exists as the verification tool inside MyIntealth.

• MyIntealth is for verification of international degrees.

• You create a MyIntealth account and confirm your identity. This generates a MyIntealth ID, usually issued within 2–3 business days.

• Inside MyIntealth you request an EPIC Portfolio, upload your medical diploma (and postgraduate qualifications if relevant), and nominate the AMC to receive the verification report.

• Verification is by Primary Source Verification (PSV) — meaning your issuing university or medical school confirms authenticity directly, not you.

Separately from MyIntealth, you create an account on the AMC Candidate Portal. This is the AMC's own system that manages exam bookings, document sharing and progress tracking.

• Once your MyIntealth ID exists, you use it to establish your AMC Portfolio — essentially your master case file with the AMC.

• Consistency matters enormously: your name, dates and document details across MyIntealth, your portfolio and your passport must match exactly. Mismatches are a common cause of delay.

• The AMC typically reviews a portfolio application within about 5 AMC business days.

• Some document types (existing medical registrations, PhDs) are not submitted through the portfolio and are handled separately — check the AMC's current FAQ for your situation.

Once your portfolio is approved and you are eligible to sit the AMC CAT MCQ, you pay the exam fee through your AMC candidate account — not through Pearson VUE directly.

Pearson VUE is a global testing provider that runs the AMC CAT MCQ at secure test centres in over 180 countries.

How booking works

1. After your pay exam fee, Pearson VUE emails you confirming you are eligible to book.

2. You book the seat yourself — through the Pearson VUE online scheduling portal

3. Once booked, the AMC issues a placement letter in your AMC account. Keep this — it is often required if you need a travel visa to reach the test centre.

Rescheduling and Cancelling Rules:

• 1-Year Window: Your exam payment and authorization give you a 1-year window to sit the exam.

• Flexible Rescheduling: You can reschedule your exam date or venue multiple times within that 1-year period without losing your authorization, provided there are open seats.

• The Closing Deadline: You must make any changes or reschedules before the exam event's specific closing date (typically around 3 weeks or 21 days before the scheduled date).

• Strict Forfeiture: If you fail to reschedule before this closing deadline or do not show up, you will lose your booking, forfeit your fee, and your authorization will become invalid.

• Cancellations are accepted only in exceptional circumstances — serious illness or injury with a medical certificate, or a domestic emergency with official documentation such as a statutory declaration.

AMC CAT MCQ Exam

From eligibility to sitting the exam.

Exam Pattern & Format

• Total Questions: 150 multiple-choice questions (A-type format: one best answer out of five options).

• Scoring breakdown: Out of the 150 questions, 30 are non-scored pilot questions while 120 are scored.

• Duration: 3.5 hours (210 min) in a single continuous session.

• Passing Score: Graded on a scale of 0 to 500, with a passing score set at 250. There is no negative marking.

• Computer Adaptive Test (CAT). The exam dynamically adjusts the difficulty of questions based on your previous answers (getting harder if you answer correctly, easier if you miss).

Subjects & Syllabus Overview

The exam tests applied medical knowledge and clinical reasoning required for a graduating intern entering the Australian healthcare system. It features clinical data, case studies, and visual media (like X-rays, ECGs, and lab reports).

The curriculum spans core clinical disciplines:

• Adult Health – Medicine: ~30% to 35% (Cardiology, respiratory, gastroenterology, neurology, endocrinology, etc.)

• Adult Health – Surgery: ~20% to 25% (General surgery, trauma, orthopaedics, perioperative care)

• Women’s Health (Obstetrics & Gynaecology): ~12.5% to 15% (Antenatal care, labour, delivery, complications)

• Child Health (Paediatrics): ~12.5% to 15% (Neonatal care, growth and development, infections)

• Mental Health: ~12.5% to 15% (Psychiatry, mood disorders, substance use, risk assessment)

• Population Health & Ethics: ~12.5% to 15% (Public health, epidemiology, confidentiality, medical ethics, and Australian legal boundaries)

After the MCQ: What Comes Next

Passing the MCQ unlocks the second assessment. You choose one of two routes depending on your employment situation:

Passing either route earns the AMC Certificate. With that certificate you apply to AHPRA for provisional registration, complete roughly 12 months of approved supervised practice, and then become eligible for general registration.

Source guidance: Medical Board of Australia / AHPRA registration information (2026).