We need other pathways to fellowship.

tried to help was that of a Pakistani doctor who came as a permanent resident in 2004.

He passed the first part of the AMC exam and obtained B passes in

all sections of the English language

test. This enabled him to work at a

Sydney hospital.

He had to return to Pakistan for

family reasons. When he came back

to Sydney, he passed the AMC exam.

But the rules had changed, and he

had to resit a different English language test— the International English

Emeritus Professor Max Kamien Senior honorary research fellow at the University of WA.

PICTURE CREDIT

Language Testing System( IELTS).

He passed the listening, writing and speaking sections but failed the reading section.

The NSW Board of the Medical Board of Australia could not allow him to practise until he passed it.

He became depressed, developed

tors from the specialty because the

a phobia of the reading section of the

fellowship pathway is inflexible and

IELTS, and failed it 28 times.

sometimes blind to the skills these

He drives a taxi to try to make

doctors have.

ends meet. He has no friends, no

It was triggered by Australian

mentor, no social life, no status

Doctor columnist Dr Pam Rachootin

and feels a failure as a father and a

who said there were other means

husband.

beyond the use of examinations.

And Australia has one less GP that

Of the 108 comments on her article,

the politicians say are badly needed.

about half agreed with her, and the

I wonder how AHPRA would

rest most definitely did not.

deal with a doctor who so neglected

I have sat many examinations,

and psychologically destroyed a

and by preparing for them in the

vulnerable patient?

same way as I would for a tennis tour-

The land of the‘ fair go’ has, in

nament, I guess I have done okay.

medical bureaucracy, become the

I have also examined at all med-

One‘ problem student’ who played

Some were only in need of a

rapidly as a means of controlling it.

land of one size fits all— which it

ical levels in six countries over the

Dungeons & Dragons all night and

diagnosis.

Dr Rose Senior( PhD)( daughter of

patently does not.

last 55 years.

slept through the daytime seminars

They included a Sri Lankan doctor

Lord Hunt of Fawley of the Rose-Hunt

We need, as Dr Pam advocates,

I also worry about the reliability

became a conscientious GP whom

who had obvious obstetric skill but

Award) is a speech therapist in Perth.

more than one way to accreditation.

of examinations for those just above

students twice voted as best teacher

had failed the FRACOG. Now he had

She, with the help of some RACGP WA

We need a cohort of experienced

or just below the cut-off mark.

of the year in their medical faculty.

failed the FRACGP.

funding and some atenolol, slowed

medicos supported by their college,

But my main concern is that any

A decade ago, the RACGP com-

So I organised a mock exam in

down his speech.

be it the RACGP or ACRRM.

one form of assessment does not

memorated one of its educational

Broome.

He passed the FRACGP.

I have been retired for five years.

result in justice for all.

Another failing IMG was a staunch

I am now a patient. But I reckon I

Those in the comment section mentioned‘ brilliant doctors’ brought down by dyslexia and an inability to comprehend multiple-choice questions.

Those in the comment section mentioned‘ brilliant doctors’ brought down by dyslexia.

Buddhist from Myanmar.

He had failed the clinical part of the FRACGP. The examiners could not hear him. He dealt with what he saw as aggression by withdrawal.

can still pick a good doctor from a mediocre one.

I also reckon that I could return to practice and still be a good doctor who could solve patients’ problems,

I have taught similar neurodiverse

He said speaking loudly was a sin.

even though I doubt I could pass

students who my more authoritarian

luminaries by establishing the posi-

He sent an apology, citing gas-

I got him to see the bigger pic-

the FRACGP, and I know I would not

academic colleagues wanted rusti-

tion of Corlis Fellow in each Austral-

troenteritis. I insisted he come.

ture, which included the needs

fare well with the FACRRM or the

cated from the medical faculty.

ian state.

His problem became obvious.

of his family, and that included

AMC exam.

My more compassionate col-

I was the WA fellow from 2011

He talked so fast that the listener’ s

attaining the FRACGP.

So, I fully support Pam’ s plea for

leagues found different ways to

to 2015. I focused my attention on

comprehension was close to zero.

I got him to watch TV and mimic

other paths to full registration, even

assess them.

helping rurally based IMGs pass the

It turned out that he and his four

the actors who moved their lips. He

though they be paths less visited.

Nearly all became, in that media

Australian Medical Council( AMC)

brothers all had stutters.

learned to move his lips. He became

phrase I sometimes question,‘ top doctors’.

and RACGP exams that most had already failed.

The sole speech therapist in Colombo had taught them all to speak

an FRACGP. The most egregious case that I

Visit ausdoc. com. au for more

Australian Doctor team

To email staff, use the following format: firstname. surname @ adg. com. au

Editor: Paul Smith( 02) 8484 0795 Medical editor: Dr Kate Kelso BMed FRACGP How to Treat editor: Dr Claire Berman MBBCh Clinical editor: Rada Rouse

Political editor: Antony Scholefield Chief of staff: Rachel Carter 6minutes news editor: Carmel Sparke Chief reporter: Heather Saxena Senior reporter: Mohana Basu Reporter: Rachel Fieldhouse

Junior reporter: Ciara Seccombe Production editor: Sophie Attwood Senior content producers: David Dombrovskis Robert Santos Senior website manager: Stacey Shipton Senior graphic designer: Edison Bartolome

Managing director: Bryn McGeever Sales and marketing enquiries: 1300 360 126 Classified pages bookings:( 02) 8484 0666 gpclassifieds @ adg. com. au Production manager— client services: Eve Allen

The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Australian Doctor Group.

Australian Doctor is an independent publication serving the needs of Australia’ s GPs. It has no affiliation with any medical organisation or association, and our editorial content is free of influence from advertisers.

Australian Doctor is sent free to full-time GPs in private practice and certain prescribing and staff specialists. It is available to other readers on subscription for $ 390.00 pa including GST. Overseas rates apply. Phone 1300 360 126. Average net distribution period ending March 2023: 15,918.

Australian Doctor is published 12 times a year by Australian Doctor Group.

Level 12, 117 York Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000 Ph:( 02) 8484 0666 Fax:( 02) 8484 0633 Email: customer. service @ adg. com. au www. ausdoc. com. au( Inc in NSW) ACN 132 719 861 ABN 94 615 959 914 ISSN 1039-7116 © Copyright 2023 www. adg. com. au