Visiting expert
The special purpose visiting expert scope of practice enables doctors to come to New Zealand to proctor, demonstrate, assist or teach a new or existing procedure to New Zealand practitioners for a maximum of one week.
Prerequisites
In order to apply you must:
- hold a primary medical degree from a university medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS), and
- have been invited by an institution approved by us and that has specified the nature of any contact with patients you will have. Organisations we recognise include hospitals and Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand districts.
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The World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS) lists all of the medical schools in the world, with accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information on each school.
Applying for registration
Forms
To apply for registration in this scope of practice, you need to complete the VEX1 application form. Please complete all sections of the form in full to ensure your application is not delayed. In particular, it is very important you answer all the conduct, competence and health disclosure questions.
Your employer will need to complete the VEX2 form. Your supervisor and the Chief Medical Officer (or Practice Principal) will need to co-sign this form. The information asked for on this form tells us about:
- who will be supervising you,
- what if any patient contact you will have,
- whether informed consent has been obtained (or will be obtained) from patients, and
- whether ethics committee approval is required for new and/or innovative techniques that are to be performed.
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Application for Special Purpose: Visiting Expert Registration for teaching as a Visiting Expert
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Special Purpose: Visiting Expert - Application for approval of invitation and supervision
Passport
As a visiting expert you will not be required to attend a registration interview to confirm your identity. Instead you need to provide an original certified copy of your passport. The certified needs to be signed and dated by a notary public, such as a lawyer or justice of the peace. Original certified copies need to be clear, legible and notarised in English.
Current CV
Please provide an up-to-date CV with your application. This should include a detailed work history listed chronologically. Please provide an explanation for any gaps of three months or more in your work history.
Certificate of professional status (COPS)
You must provide an original COPS for each regulatory jurisdiction in which you have worked during the five years immediately prior to your application. This is important as it provides us with an up-to-date verification of your fitness or practice and your professional standing in the jurisdictions you have been working in. The COPS certificate must be dated within three months your intended start date in New Zealand.
The COPS must be sent directly from the issuing organisation to Council. If we have an agreement with the organisation, this exchange will happen electronically. Otherwise, the COPS will need to be posted to us.
If we receive an uncertified copy, we will send it back to you to be verified.
Primary source verification of documents
If you are applying for registration for the first time, you will need to have your primary medical degree verified at source through the EPIC system. Please do this before you apply. The verification can take some time and we will not issue you a practising certificate if we have not received this verification.
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Doctors who hold overseas qualifications and who want to apply for registration in Aotearoa New Zealand must have key documents verified from their primary source.
Processing times
Once we receive a complete application, we will process this and let you know if you've been successful. Please allow up to 20 working days for processing to be completed.
You can apply up to six months in advance of your start date. However, we will still require you to provide a COPS dated within three months of your intended start date.