Amendment to Notice—Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Notice 2024

1. Notice

Under sections 11 and 13 of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand (“Council”) gives notice of an amendment to the notice titled “Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Notice 2024” published in the New Zealand Gazette, 30 September 2024, Notice No. 2024-sl4580 (“principal notice”).

2. Title and Commencement

This notice may be cited as the Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications for the Practice of Medicine in New Zealand Amendment Notice (No. 2) 2025 and will come into force on 7 August 2025.

This notice has the status of secondary legislation for the purposes of the Legislation Act 2019. This notice is published on the Council’s website www.mcnz.org.nz/about-us/publications/gazette-notices/.

3. Amendment to principal notice – prescribed qualifications for general scope of practice

This amendment affects Pathway 1 – New Zealand/Australian Primary Medical Qualification and Pathway 2 – Examinations.

The principal notice is amended by changing the reference in Pathways 1 and 2 of the prescribed qualification requirements that must be satisfied for the General Scope of Practice, from:

hold advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) certificate at the standard of New Zealand Resuscitation Council CORE Advanced less than 12 months old

To:

meet Council’s requirements for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), as set out in the Council’s policy on the advanced cardiac life support requirement for PGY1 interns.

The General Scope of Practice, Pathway 1 – New Zealand/Australian Primary Medical Qualification will, from the commencement of this notice, read as follows:

General Scope of Practice

Pathway 1 – New Zealand/Australian Primary Medical Qualification

Either:

1. hold a primary medical degree from a New Zealand or Australian university medical school accredited by the Council for the purposes of registration in New Zealand and published on the Council’s website; and

2. hold General Registration in Australia.

Or:

Hold registration in the Provisional General scope of practice (New Zealand/Australian primary medical qualification pathway) and satisfy the following requirements:

1. satisfactorily complete four accredited clinical attachments;

2. substantively attain the learning outcomes outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework for Prevocational Medical Training;

3. complete a minimum of 10 weeks’ full-time equivalent in each clinical attachment. Full-time is equivalent to a minimum of 40 hours per week;

4. meet Council’s requirements for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), as set out in the Council’s policy on the advanced cardiac life support requirements for PGY1 interns; and

5. been recommended for registration in the General scope of practice by a Council-approved advisory panel.

The General Scope of Practice, Pathway 2 – Examinations will, from the commencement of this notice, read as follows:

Pathway 2 – Examinations

Hold registration in the Provisional General scope of practice (Examinations pathway) and satisfy the following requirements:

1. satisfactorily complete four accredited clinical attachments;

2. substantively attain the learning outcomes outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum Framework for Prevocational Medical Training;

3. complete a minimum of 10 weeks’ full-time equivalent in each clinical attachment. Full-time is equivalent to a minimum of 40 hours per week;

4. meet Council’s requirements for advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), as set out in the Council’s policy on the advanced cardiac life support requirements for PGY1 interns; and

5. been recommended for registration in the General scope of practice by a Council-approved advisory panel.

4. Background

Presently intern doctors in postgraduate year 1 (“PGY1”) are registered in the Provisional General scope of practice. To be eligible for registration in the General scope of practice at the end of PGY1, interns applying for registration through Pathways 1 and 2 must hold a current ACLS certification at the New Zealand Resuscitation Council (“NZRC”) CORE Advanced level, less than 12 months old, to progress to General scope registration.

The NZRC CORE is a standardised curriculum providing essential skills and knowledge for managing life-threatening situations. CORE Advanced is designed for advanced rescuers responsible for overseeing resuscitation events.

Over four weeks (from 21 January to 17 February 2025), Council consulted on a proposal to extend the validity of ACLS certification from 12 months to 18 months, and the following three options:

Option 1: That Council only accepts NZRC CORE Advanced certification (with no alternatives accepted) undertaken during PGY1.
Option 2: That Council accepts alternatives to NZRC CORE Advanced certification undertaken during PGY1.
Option 3: That Council accepts NZRC CORE Advanced certification completed in the final year of medical school, or certification undertaken during PGY1.

A consultation paper, which provided details of the extension of the validity of the ACLS certification and the three options and the rationale behind them, was published on Council’s website. Specific invitations to respond were sent to key stakeholders, including:

Prevocational medical training providers (Te Whatu Ora districts)
Vocational medical training and recertification providers (medical colleges)
Otago and Auckland medical schools
The New Zealand Resuscitation Council
The New Zealand Resident Doctors Association
Speciality Trainees of New Zealand
Te Whatu Ora
The Ministry of Health
The Council of Medical Colleges
The New Zealand Medical Students Association.

In total, Council received 26 responses to the consultation survey and 19 written submissions by email.

At its meeting on 8 – 9 April 2025, Council resolved to change the requirement of ACLS certification for interns to qualify for registration in the General scope of practice.

Council considered that it was appropriate to extend the validity period to 18 months due to the logistical challenges caused by the change in the intern start date from mid-November to mid-January.
Council agreed that incorporating the ACLS requirement for PGY1 interns into a policy document and changing the Gazette notice to refer to a policy document found on the Council’s website would allow greater detail to be provided and more flexibility to review and update the policy document, when required.
Council considered that there was no evidence of clinical risk due to the provision of alternative courses in the districts which have established alternative ACLS courses, and that alternative courses allowed for flexibility amongst districts, and would not require additional resourcing or funding.

At its meeting on 17 – 18 June 2025, Council resolved to approve the draft Advanced Cardiac Life Support requirement for PGY1 interns policy. The policy can be found on the Medical Council’s website: www.mcnz.org.nz.

Dated at Wellington this 10th day of July 2025.

CHRISTINE ANDERSON, Registrar, Te Kaunihera Rata o Aotearoa | Medical Council of New Zealand.