New Zealand News: House Officer and Registrar Job Applications

Increase your chances of a successful application for resident medical officer jobs - that is house officer and registrar jobs - in New Zealand

New Zealand District Health Boards are having difficulty bringing junior medical officers into the country. New Zealand is a favoured destination for international medical graduates looking for postgraduate specialist training or just an interesting and enriching experience of working in Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud, as the Maoris like to call it.

Each year tens or hundreds of house officers and registrars from UK, Ireland and Europe make their way across the world for a stint in one of the twenty district health boards which run the public hospital system of New Zealand. But the covid19 pandemic has changed the ease of travel and what used to be a simple formality of getting a licence to practise and booking a flight, has just become more complicated.

New Zealand has just closed its borders again because of a small number of covid19 cases and the District Health Boards are having some difficulties getting junior doctors into the country in time to start work and so they have decided to prioritise the candidates with the EPIC Report complete and MIQ place booked.

We shall take a look at these two requirements: EPIC and MIQ

1: EPIC Report

The EPIC report is the primary source verification of physician qualifications, training and licence obtained by opening an EPIC Portfolio account and uploading your qualifications and confirming your identity. This is run by the ECFMG in USA and takes some time to complete. Most applications are finished within 6 weeks and the report generated and available for download, but it can take up to 4 months if your qualifications are from universities which are slow to process and respond to requests for information.

It is best to start this application well in advance of making job applications so that you have the report ready to submit to the employer when you find a job you want to apply for.

The good points about the EPIC Report are that it need only be done once and the report can be used for multiple applications in jurisdictions around the word. So if New Zealand does not work out and you decide to go for Australia, Singapore,, UK, Ireland or Canada instead, you can use the same report.

So get this done right away. Read our article on EPIC Report applications for some guidance and don't hesitate to contact us if you need some help.

2. MIQ - Managed Isolation and Quarantine

People entering New Zealand must stay in managed isolation or quarantine to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Only a small group of people are exempt from being in managed isolation and that consists mostly of people with medical exemptions, so most essential workers, including doctors, need to complete the compulsory quarantine on arrival. This lasts 14 days.

However there is a shortage of rooms right now and facilities are booked up weeks and months ahead so if you are considering moving to New Zealand to start work, you will need to book your quarantine place for the two weeks before your intended work start date.

You will need to obtain pre-booked isolation vouchers. Your vouchers ensure you have a place sorted before you leave, and will help make sure your journey goes smoothly:

STEP ONE: Create an individual or family account

STEP TWO: Hold your isolation accommodation using the MIQ website

STEP THREE: Book flights and confirm your arrival dates

STEP FOUR: Print or download your Voucher and you will be looked after you once you arrive, and provided you with comfortable accommodation during your 2-week isolation period.

Remember, you should pre-book your isolation voucher before you buy your flights, so make sure you add it to your ‘must-do’ list.

Visit the MIQ website now to find out more and book yours.

This video explains the MIQ Allocation System

Once you have your EPIC Report and MIQ place, you are ahead of the competition and have a decent chance of being selected for a great role in one of New Zealand's superb hospitals.

Good Luck!