Frequently Ask Questions

The AMC ensures that the standards for education, training, and assessment for the medical profession are met. The goal to schedule your AMC-MCQ Step1 exam, is to establish an AMC portfolio. The following are the simplified stepwise actions:

It is best to understand that while AMEX Review Center help you to prepare for your AMC-MCQ, it is not responsible in making your personal EPIC account and/or AMC portfolio. Nor is it responsible in scheduling your AMC-MCQ. AMEX sees that each step is dependent on your self-assessment of preparedness and readiness. However, AMEX does orient you with all the steps for you to be well-informed and guided.

The review course is offered four times in a year, or, one schedule for every quarter of the year.

An entire review schedule consists of an intensive 23-day course. All classes are held only on weekdays, eight to nine hours per day. There are no reviews during weekends. The content and time-frame of the review is closely patterned to the content blueprint of the AMC-MCQ. These topics are:

  • Adult Health (Adult Medicine and Surgery)
  • Women’s Health (Obstetrics and Gynecology)
  • Child’s Health (Pediatrics)
  • Mental Health (Psychiatry)
  • Population, Community, and Aboriginal Health
  • Legal Medicine and Ethics

The Standard Pathway is always mentioned primarily because this is the path in which most International Medical Graduates fit into. Besides this, there are 2 other pathways that Australia has set, namely the Competent Authority Pathway and the Specialist Pathway. These are the two options if one does not want to go through the AMC exams. However, please note that each pathway is subject to its own requirement/s for eligibility.

Competent Authority Pathway

To be eligible for this pathway, one has to have completed the equivalent AMC exams in the following identified countries:

  1. General Medical Council (United Kingdom – for the PLAB examination or for graduates of GMC-accredited medical courses in the United Kingdom), with 12 months training in UK
  2. Medical Council of Canada (LMCC)
  3. Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates of the United States (USMLE), with 2 years of training
  4. Medical Council of New Zealand (NZREX), with internship (equivalent)
  5. Medical Council of Ireland (graduates of medical courses in Ireland accredited by the Medical Council of Ireland), with internship

IMGs who meet the criteria in one of the competent authority categories may be eligible for provisional registration via the Competent Authority pathway. IMGs must have secured an offer of employment before applying to the Board for registration.

Specialist Pathway

To be eligible for the Specialist Pathway, one has to have completed fellowship (or equivalent) in one of the above-mentioned countries and have had their experience assessed by any “relevant specialist medical college” (governing specialist college/society in Australia). The college assesses comparability against the criteria for an Australian-trained specialist in the same field of specialty practice. This pathway has many different categories and IMGs may be eligible for either Specialist Registration, Provisional Registratoin, or Limited Registration. Assessments can be deemed as “partially or substantially equivalent, or not equivalent.” Furthermore, following assessment, the IMG may be required to undertake a period of peer review (oversight), which may involve the completion of workplace based assessment(s), or a period of supervised practice and further training, which may involve college assessment, including examinations.

For further information about these pathways, visit the Registration requirements of the Medical Board of Australia www.medicalboard.gov.au/…/International-Medical-Graduates.a…

Although scheduling for both Step1-MCQ and Step2-Clinical does not require a physician license in the Philippines, it is important to note that those who have clinical practice may be viewed as having more edge than those without it.

The Medical Board of Australia indicates in their website that a recent practice “does not apply to graduates applying for registration for the first time.” On the other hand, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) requires doctors to meet Recency of Practice to be eligible for registration in Australia. This conflicting statements make IMGs confused on a standard that they have to follow.

Here at AMEX Review Center, our opinion is that we advise our students to have a bit of time to get clinic or hospital duties while on their track towards their registration. We stress on the word “bit” since to satisfy the Recency of Practice standard, doctors must work for a minimum of:

4 weeks full-time clinical practice in 12 months, with a total of 152 hours; or

12 weeks full-time clinical practice in 3 years, with a total of 456 hours.

The Medical Board of Australia and AHPRA regard “full-time practice” as working 38 hours per week. It is best to pay attention, that one’s recent practice must be within the intended scope. If the plan is to land GP work, then one must have recent clinical experience encompassing GP work. If the plan is to land a hospital job, one must have recent hospital duties.

In a situation wherein a physician is unable to fulfill the aforementioned standards, AHPRA may give conditions that can be equivalent to clinical practice. These requirements can encompass provisions that can relate to as simple as completion of 1 years’ Continued Professional Development Activities (relevant to the area of practice), or certification of employment in Non-Clinical Recency of Practice such as working as a Medical Administrator, working in Medical Research or in Medical Policy, or at the end of the spectrum, to return to the Philippines and practice for the minimum number of weeks stipulated.

Please bear in mind that the path towards registration is a case-to-case basis. For detailed discussions on this topic and issues relating to the recency of practice, refer to our references:

https://www.ahpra.gov.au/…/registr…/recency-of-practice.aspx
https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/…/FAQ-Recency-of-practice.a…