International medical graduates

Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine is a specialist qualification available to medical practitioners who have satisfied specific standards set down by the Faculty. The applicant must also have satisfied the standards required to obtain fellowship of an associated specialty recognised in Australia and New Zealand.

In Australia, fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine is recognised by the Medical Board of Australia for registration as a specialist in pain medicine. This is likely to occur soon in New Zealand.

Since attaining two qualifications in Australia and New Zealand at a specialist level would require a considerable extra commitment for international medical graduate specialists (IMGS), the Faculty has developed an associate fellowship. This qualification has identical requirements with respect to standards of performance in Faculty of Pain Medicine training and examinations. It has the different criteria that the applicant must have obtained fellowship of a similar specialty in their own region of practice.

Associate fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine does not require this primary specialty to have been recognised for registration in Australia or New Zealand, and it is not registrable in Australia as a specialty.

Registration as an FPM trainee requires payment of the registration fee, training fee and examination fee.

Satisfactory in-training assessments, case report and examination performance entitles trainees to:

• Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine after attaining a fellowship of another Australian and New Zealand specialist college acceptable to the FPM; or
• Associate fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine after attaining a fellowship of another in their own region of practice, acceptable to the FPM. 

An associate Fellow may subsequently be admitted to fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine upon conferral of fellowship of a medical college in Australia or New Zealand acceptable to the board.

Training in pain medicine requires:

• An elective period of one year, of experience of direct relevance to pain medicine. Up to 12 months may be retrospectively approved based on your prior training and experience relevant to pain medicine. This requires a curriculum vitae detailing this experience to be submitted to the Faculty Assessor. Independent confirmation of this experience may be required. 
• A structured period of training of either one or two years in a Faculty-approved training unit. (See Faculty Professional Document PM2 for details).
• Assessment process.

This requires satisfactory performance with respect to:

• In-training assessments.
• Log book.
• Examination.
• A case report.
  

In order to undertake the FPM training, an applicant would have to obtain an appropriate visa, satisfy Australian or New Zealand immigration requirements, Australian or New Zealand Medical Board requirements and be offered a position in a Faculty-approved training unit.

All applicants are required to adhere to the requirements of the Australian Medical Council (www.amc.org.au) for assessment of eligibility to apply for appropriate medical registration.

Prior to registering as a trainee, the Faculty will require documentary evidence of the applicant being a registered trainee in a primary specialty at their overseas location.

The Faculty of Pain Medicine is not able to, nor responsible for, arranging appointment to particular training positions. Appointment to such employment is to be arranged directly with the employing authority and hospital unit.

Please see Faculty Regulation 3.5

For further information, please contact the Faculty office: painmed@anzca.edu.au