The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is an independent national standards and assessment body for
medical education
Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship) and additional training thereafter (e.g., residency, fellowship, ...
and training. It was established in 1985.
Purpose
The purpose of the AMC is:
:"To ensure that standards of education, training and assessment of the medical profession promote and protect the health of the Australian community."
Functions
The AMC's major functions include:
*
accrediting medical education and training providers and their programs
* developing standards, policies and procedures for the accreditation of medical programs and for the assessment of
international medical graduates seeking registration in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
* assessing the knowledge, clinical skills and professional attributes of overseas qualified
medical practitioners seeking registration in
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law
* assessing the case for recognition of
medical specialties
* giving advice and making recommendations to
federal, state and territory governments and agencies, including medical regulatory authorities, in relation to
** accreditation and accreditation standards for the medical profession
** the registration of medical practitioners
** the assessment and recognition of overseas qualifications of medical practitioners
** the recognition of medical specialties.
Certification
AMC certification is required for international medical graduates (IMGs) who wish to be licensed in Australia. To achieve AMC certification, an IMG must pass the AMC MCQ Exam and the AMC Clinical exam, as well as having the
medical diploma verified.
*The AMC MCQ exam consists of 150 multiple choice questions (MCQs) organized through computer adaptive scoring. It is delivered in one 3.5 hour session. The pass mark is set to match the level of knowledge required by Australian medical schools for their final-year graduates.
*The AMC clinical exam consists of 16 stations. At each station the candidate has two minutes to read a presentation of a case and what tasks the candidate is expected to perform. Each station usually has three or four tasks. A task may include taking a focused
medical history
The medical history, case history, or anamnesis (from Greek: ἀνά, ''aná'', "open", and μνήσις, ''mnesis'', "memory") of a patient is information gained by a physician by asking specific questions, either to the patient or to other peo ...
, performing a focused
physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally consists of a series of questions about the pati ...
, suggesting
differential diagnoses or further
diagnostic procedures, or informing about treatments. A candidate then has eight minutes to perform the tasks, and is required to pass 12 out of 16 cases including one compulsory case in each of
gynecology
Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with ...
and
pediatrics
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
.
See also
*
List of medical schools in Australia
*
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
References
Further reading
*
External links
Australian Medical Council
{{Authority control
Medical regulation in Australia
Medical and health organisations based in Australia
Medical education in Australia
1985 establishments in Australia