Qualifying to be a surgeon takes years of study and hard work, but that journey is even longer for desperately needed overseas-trained surgeons.
Between January 2021 and July 2024, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons assessed specialist international medical graduates against standards that varied from the requirements of Medical Board of Australia - the national body which licenses medical practitioners to work.
The college had measured international specialists at the level of a surgeon with five years of specialist practice, instead of a new fellow who had completed the college's advanced exams.
That impacted more than 200 international surgeons who patients could have benefited from in the workforce.
They are being a given second chance to reapply.
Medical Board of Australia chair Susan O'Dwyer said patient safety and medical workforce supply were both essential.
"Patients need to feel safe seeing any medical specialist in Australia and be able to get an appointment when they need one. The board is working really hard to make this happen," Dr O'Dwyer said.Â
A major review by senior public servant Robyn Kruk examining the nation's healthcare workforce shortage noted more reforms were needed to fast-track international medical graduates practising in Australian hospitals and clinics.
In 2024, the board opened a new expedited specialist pathway for a small number of international medical graduates including GPs, anaesthetists, gynaecologists, obstetricians and psychiatrists to apply directly to it, bypassing their relevant colleges' assessment process.
However, that pathway has not expanded to include surgeons.
Health Minister Mark Butler said record numbers of internationally qualified doctors had been easing the burden with 5431 registered to practise in 2024.
In recent months, nurses, psychiatrists and doctors in NSW have gone on strike to protest against work conditions, maintaining that pay is low, workloads are unmanageable with an influx of patients and retention rates are abysmal.