No words can describe the sigh of relief I felt when I opened the email and read the sentence, “I congratulate you on passing the 2025.2 ANZCA Final Examination."
When I made the decision to work in Australia, I expected a challenging process ahead of me. Fortunately, the mountain of paperwork and bureaucratic red tape was made manageable by the helpful and responsive advice from members of the ANZCA SIMG Committee, my supervisor Dr Lisa Molloy, and the Medical Workforce team at Royal Perth Hospital. Having started my application process in December 2023, I was deemed partially comparable by June 2024.
Armed with an extensive to-do list – assimilating into the Australian public healthcare system, completing a litany of assessments, and preparing for the dreaded SIMG exam – I decided it was wise to hit the ground running when I started at Royal Perth Hospital in February 2025. The Australian and Malaysian public healthcare systems share many complexities, flaws, victories and frustrations. After a few months, I found my sea legs at Royal Perth Hospital thanks to the endless support from consultants, technicians, nurses, and fellow registrars.
My initial perception of the SIMG exam was quite straightforward: say what you’ve already learned from a decade of doing anaesthesia, only differently. After a few sessions with the ASA SIMG Exam Practice group over Zoom, I quickly realised it was certainly not that simple. I found that practising vivas and working on the gaps in knowledge and technique I discovered along the way were far more useful than tediously slogging through the entire syllabus from start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised by the many avenues available to prepare, including the ANZCA Final Exam Long Course, I-Excel SIMG courses, the ASA SIMG exam practice sessions, and the many consultants and fellows at Royal Perth Hospital and across Western Australia who were willing to give me a viva or two to whip me into shape.
The viva days themselves were an ordeal—imagine speed-dating ten people who grow increasingly annoyed with the things you’re saying as the minutes pass. I was fortunate to be sitting the exam with two colleagues from Melbourne with whom I had been practising regularly via Zoom (and eventually WhatsApp video calls once our free 40 minutes were up). Having a good support system, not only during preparation but also on the exam days, was incredibly helpful in calming my nerves and making the whole endeavour slightly more bearable.
No words can describe the sigh of relief I felt when I opened the email and read the sentence, “I congratulate you on passing the 2025.2 ANZCA Final Examination.” In addition to the support of friends, family, and colleagues, I am extremely thankful to my partner Jeffrey for his endless patience in tolerating my brooding, whining, and complaining over the last nine months. With only a few more months to complete my clinical practice assessment period this February 2026, I am looking forward to all that lies ahead.