How to register
To practise medicine in New Zealand you must be registered and have a practising certificate. There are various registration pathways, depending on your qualifications, training, experience, and whether you intend to work in New Zealand permanently or just for a short time for a specific purpose.
Before you can register to practice you'll need to meet our fitness for registration requirements - including meeting our English language requirements. Please note that most pathways to non-specialist registration require you to have a job offer in New Zealand, before you can apply for registration and be issued with a practising certificate.
To get started, use our self-assessment tool to identify which registration pathway is right for you.
-
Regardless of your scope of practice, the basic process for registration as a medical practitioner in New Zealand is as outlined here.
-
Any doctor applying for registration in New Zealand must be fit for registration and fit to practise medicine. It's a legal requirement on us to ensure they are. We determine this as part of our assessment of your application for registration.
-
When you're applying for registration, sometimes Council will ask you to provide a Statutory Declaration, or a Certified Copy of a document that you’re relying upon as part of your application.
-
To apply for registration as a medical practitioner in New Zealand, or to sit the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX Clinical), you must have a recognised primary medical qualification from a university medical school listed on the World Directory of Medical Schools.
-
All international medical graduates coming to New Zealand to practise medicine for the first time must attend a registration interview and be able to produce the information we've asked for.
-
Doctors who hold overseas qualifications and who want to apply for registration in New Zealand must have key documents verified from their primary source.