Australian Medical Council
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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 An international medical graduate (IMG), earlier known as a foreign medical graduate (FMG), is a physician who has graduated from a medical school outside of the country where he or she intends to practice. The term non-local medical graduate may be ...
seeking registration in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
* assessing the knowledge, clinical skills and professional attributes of overseas qualified
medical practitioners A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...
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 pract ...
under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law * assessing the case for recognition of
medical specialties A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (paediatrics), cancer (oncology), ...
* giving advice and making recommendations to
federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
, 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 In healthcare, a differential diagnosis (abbreviated DDx) is a method of analysis of a patient's history and physical examination to arrive at the correct diagnosis. It involves distinguishing a particular disease or condition from others that p ...
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 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 the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...
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 th ...
.


See also

*
List of medical schools in Australia Medical education in Australia is provided by the medical schools and faculties of various universities, accreditation for which is provided by the Australian Medical Council. There are both undergraduate and graduate medical programs; the forme ...
*
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), infrequently spelt as the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency is a statutory authority founded in 2010 which is responsible, in collaboration with the ''Medical Board of ...


References


Further reading

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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