Yeomans Neville D
School of Medicine and School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
J Migr Health. 2022 Apr 18;5:100109. doi: 10.1016/j.jmh.2022.100109. eCollection 2022.
International medical graduates (IMGs) have made important contributions to Australian healthcare since colonization. Recent published data have documented source countries and characteristics of IMGs undertaking the examinations of the Australian Medical Council. However, information about those currently practicing in Australia is limited.
To analyze a cross section of IMGs currently practicing in Australia to determine patterns of change in donor countries, other demographic characteristics, geographical locations, and their areas of specialization.
A random sample of all practitioners on a national database was interrogated for their country of first medical qualification. Those who qualified outside Australia were then analyzed for demographic variables such as age, gender, country of origin, and years of graduation and immigration. Their practice locations were matched to the Australian Bureau of Statistics geographical framework, and their specialties compared with those of a random sample of graduates from Australian medical schools.
Over the approximately 60 years since those surveyed arrived in Australia, IMGs' countries/regions of origin have changed from mainly the UK and Ireland to Southern Asia, in line with demographic changes in Australia as a whole. Most arrived soon after graduation, and IMGs are twice IMGs as likely as local graduates to be working in a rural area of workforce shortage. Compared with local graduates, significantly more IMGs are working in general practice.
IMGs currently practicing in Australia make up a substantial proportion of the workforce and are more likely than local graduates to provide health services in regional and remote areas.
自殖民时期以来，国际医学毕业生（IMGs）对澳大利亚的医疗保健做出了重要贡献。最近公布的数据记录了参加澳大利亚医学委员会考试的IMGs的来源国和特征。然而，关于目前在澳大利亚执业的IMGs的信息有限。
分析目前在澳大利亚执业的IMGs的横断面，以确定来源国的变化模式、其他人口统计学特征、地理位置及其专业领域。
对国家数据库中所有从业者的随机样本询问其首次获得医学资格的国家。然后对那些在澳大利亚境外获得资格的人进行年龄、性别、原籍国、毕业年份和移民年份等人口统计学变量分析。将他们的执业地点与澳大利亚统计局的地理框架相匹配，并将他们的专业与澳大利亚医学院校随机抽取的毕业生样本的专业进行比较。
自被调查者抵达澳大利亚的大约60年里，IMGs的原籍国/地区已从主要是英国和爱尔兰转变为南亚，这与澳大利亚整体的人口结构变化一致。大多数人毕业后不久就抵达澳大利亚，而且IMGs在劳动力短缺的农村地区工作的可能性是当地毕业生的两倍。与当地毕业生相比，从事全科医疗工作的IMGs明显更多。
目前在澳大利亚执业的IMGs占劳动力的很大比例，并且比当地毕业生更有可能在地区和偏远地区提供医疗服务。
