Many practices want to employ an international medical graduate (IMG) but have never navigated the compliance that comes with it — supervision requirements, Medicare provider-number restrictions and AHPRA obligations. Get it wrong and a good hire becomes an expensive one. We act as your compliance partner from the first conversation to long after the doctor starts.
Before you commit to hiring, we audit your practice’s position: DPA status (the successor to DWS for general practice) and MMM classification for your location, supervision capacity among your current doctors, and the obligations you would take on as an employer. You receive a clear written report — what works, what does not, and what to fix first — so the decision to hire is made with the facts in front of you.
An IMG cannot start without an approved principal supervisor — and not every senior GP qualifies or has capacity. We assess your existing doctors against the Board’s requirements, help arrange co-supervision where needed, and prepare the supervisor’s side of the paperwork so approval is not the bottleneck.
Supervision plan renewals, level-change paperwork, progress reports and Medicare obligations — every date tracked, every document lodged on time, so nothing lapses while everyone is busy seeing patients. You receive plain-English reminders before anything is due, and we prepare the paperwork when it is.
If your practice has never employed an internationally trained doctor, the first time is the hardest. We walk your practice manager through the whole sequence — position requirements, PESCI, supervision, provider numbers and start dates — and stay across it until your new doctor is seeing patients. The second hire is easy; we make the first one easy too.
The employment contract is signed — then the practice discovers no eligible supervisor is available, and the start date slips indefinitely.
The doctor has arrived and cannot bill. Every week waiting on a 19AB exemption or provider number is revenue the practice never recovers.
A renewal or progress report slips past its date unnoticed — and a routine obligation becomes a compliance problem involving the Board.
Most accredited general practices can, provided three things line up: the practice location supports the doctor’s Medicare access (usually a Distribution Priority Area for GPs), an approved supervisor is available, and the doctor holds or can obtain the right AHPRA registration for the role. Our IMG-readiness audit confirms all three in writing before you commit.
A Distribution Priority Area (DPA) is a Medicare geographic classification identifying areas with less access to doctors. IMGs subject to section 19AB generally need to work in a DPA location to access Medicare billing. DPA replaced the former District of Workforce Shortage (DWS) system for general practice, and it is assessed alongside the Modified Monash Model (MMM) remoteness classification.
A supervisor must be approved by the Medical Board of Australia — typically an AHPRA-registered doctor with suitable experience, commonly a vocationally registered GP, with enough capacity at your practice for the supervision level required. Not every senior doctor qualifies, which is why we assess supervision capacity before anything is signed.
Not necessarily. DPA status is assessed by catchment, and a number of outer-metropolitan and regional areas qualify alongside rural and remote ones. MMM classification then affects some obligations and incentives. We check both for your exact address as part of the readiness audit.
Are you a doctor rather than a practice? See what we do for internationally trained doctors.
Start with a readiness audit — a clear written picture of your practice’s position before you commit to anything.
Get in touch