The Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) National Committee responded to consultation by Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) on developing a new collegial peer support and supervision framework for International Medical Graduates (IMGs).
MCNZ is examining its registration policies to ensure they are fit for purpose, particularly by reviewing its orientation, induction, and supervision guide. We agreed the need for a framework which addresses MCNZ requirements for ensuring patient safety and is responsive to the needs of employers and IMGs, while striking an appropriate balance between a pragmatic and principled approach. Sarah Rennie, the AoNZ Surgical Advisor, participated in designing the proposed framework.
The RACS IMG Assessors were consulted in preparing our submission which was, in summary:
- We support in principle an agile and flexible framework based on two registration pathways where an IMG will be allocated to an initial period either of collegial peer support or of formal supervision.
- Before finalising the framework, more work needs to be done on the underlying principles of Collegial Peer Support and Supervision. Currently the framework provides only a high-level overview.
- More detail is needed on what collegial peer support and supervision entail, what each pathway looks like, the preference for group supervision consensus, tools for supervising, and separating responsibility for decision-making regarding competence from responsibility for supervision.
The Council of Medical Colleges and several other colleges made submissions. We will continue to be involved in developing the framework and the details of how it will work, then will provide comment on the final version.
Read RACS' submission (PDF 211.64KB).