Medical Specialist and AMC Recognition: A Background
By: Core Integrative Health
Tags: Medical

As being the healthcare industry continues to grow, so is the number of medical fields and practices. However , since the number of newly found medical specializations continues to increase, an act to recognize only those who follow the policies and guidelines of the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Ageing was established.

In 2002, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) took over the responsibility of overseeing the process of recognizing the different medical specialties near your vicinity. The council researches and advises the Minister on which disciplines must be officially recognized by the commission, and in turn the Minister will make the final decision as to certify the practice or not.

A two-stage process is followed to fulfil this duty. According to the AMC website, following the criteria and standards of the board, the process is as follows:

Step 1: The Australian Medical Council’s Recognition of Professional medical Specialties Advisory Committee will oversee the applications for recognition. All files submitted will be assessed against specific criteria and standards established by the commission.

Step 2: AMC’s Specialist Education Accreditation Committee will oversee the assessment of the standards of the specialist education, training programs and continuing professional development programs available to the medical specialty being studied.

In a matter of five years-from 2002 to 2007-the Australian Medical Council was able to support the recognition of six different medical specialty applications.

Why is the AMC recognition important?

To serve as a medical specialist in Australia, you must have completed a supervised training program of your chosen medical specialty. You must also receive a Fellowship from a specialty medical college that is accredited and recognized by the Australian Medical Council.

With this, you may only be called an avowed specialist in Australia if you become a fellow at an AMC accredited college. According to a 2006 statistic, there were 64, 425 registered medical practitioners that year; however , only 35% of these people were specialists. See here Knee pain

Examples of Recognized Medical Specialties in Australia

A medical specialist in the following fields have been recognized and accredited by the AMC:

Anaesthetics. Anaesthetics is an acute medical specialty that requires a deep with both applied physiology and pharmacology, while working with practical methods. Being an intra-operative form of medical care, the specialty is keen on details, including the close observation of the patients.

Organization — Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

Qualification — Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA)

Intensive Care Medicine. Also known as critical-care medicine, intensive care medicine, medical specialists from this field diagnose and treat life threatening illnesses and conditions. Services rendered to patients may include organ support or invasive monitoring.

Organization — College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand

Qualification — Fellowship of the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (FCICM)

Sport and Exercise Medicine. An important façade of the medical field, Sport activity and Exercise Medicine deals with the physical fitness of a person. The practice especially works for athletes as it helps treat and prevent injuries related to physical activities-sports and exercises.

Organization — Australasian College of Sports Physicians

Qualification — Fellowship of the Australasian College of Sports Physicians (FACSP)