Q&A -A risk mitigation guide for international graduates

When something is asked of you – you should never just say yes or no, you should say yes BECAUSE and no BECAUSE. You should mention you have a regulator code of conduct and legal parameters. Explain your point of view, try to bring it across, answer their questions – be as honest as you can be. Possibly reverse the question – “if you were in my situation what would you do?” they may develop some empathy. You would do what you think is appropriate in the best interest of everybody BUT if this other person doesn’t understand you and they start showing behaviour that is detrimental to your reputation and your profession – ask MIPS, ask for their advice. I would try to tell the person that I think what they are doing is inappropriate and I would appreciate if you could stop. You can disengage from the patient if necessary. Do not risk your career because of one person.

I think it’s important that the mentor has a similar kind of personality and similar aspirations. I don’t necessarily think it needs to be somebody in the same discipline. I’m in neurosurgery and my mentor is a cardiothoracic surgeon, and I just found that I clicked better with them – we are both hard working, we both want to have families at the same time. You mentor should be somebody with whom you can have a really good connection and someone with whom you can speak freely and not be scared of consequences. If you do come across somebody who you think would make a good mentor – simply just ask if they are open to it.

I don’t think there would be a big difference between rural and metropolitan. As with any communication I would try to tailor my communication style to suit the patient. If it’s a private patient in particular and you need to talk about cost of treatment I would just lay it on the table and explain the options. This isn’t a conversation I have had to have very often as I work in a public hospital and most things are covered by Medicare unless it’s a foreign patient – somebody who is just visiting Australia – even still, it ends up being an administrative issue not a doctor issue. When I’m asked these kinds of questions I always like to think – how would I like my doctor to explain it to me and then that’s what I try to implement.

Simple answer is no - not even paracetamol. Code of conduct and law in Australia says you cannot. You should not be prescribing anything for yourself or anybody in your family. In fact this is now illegal in Victoria.

I believe it would be important to consider how well people know the system and how well they can communicate. It is also very important that they will be willing to learn, because it is a difficult process for everyone. Finally, getting accepted into AHPRA and getting the needed visa will also be essential, but I guess that can be organised by the employer as soon as they find the right employee for the spot