Rapid assessment units established in the specialist medical colleges to help streamline the recruitment of overseas doctors have been a success and should be continued, according to a Department of Health and Ageing review. For almost two decades, the qualifications of overseas-trained specialists (OTSs) have been assessed by the Australian Medical Council and the relevant colleges. But since the introduction of the area-of-need strategy in 2002, fast-tracking the recruitment of OTSs into crucial vacancies, there have been concerns about the cost, efficiency, transparent and equity of the assessment program.
