Posted June 19 2026
By Alasdair Spinner
UK CCT Trained Radiologists are not eligible for Australia's “Fast-Track” Expedited Specialist Pathway (ESP) for Diagnostic Radiology.
From 1 July 2026, only overseas trained radiologists holding a Specialist Certificate in Diagnostic Radiology from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada will be able to apply for registration in Australia through the Expedited Specialist Pathway.
Radiologists trained in UK or Ireland are not eligible for this new ESP.
The FRCR alongside a UK Certificate of Completion of Training was referred to the Australian Medical Council for assessment at the same time as the Canadian qualification. The AMC considered it against the approved Australian qualification - FRANZCR - and decided it could not be added to the accepted qualifications list. The Irish equivalent qualification, the Fellowship of the Faculty of Radiologists and Radiation Oncologists at the RCSI, met the same outcome.
The Expedited Specialist Pathways were specifically designed to open Australia to doctors from comparable health systems quickly and safely. Traditionally, UK training has been viewed as the closest comparator to Australian training so this decision goes against the grain of the other ESPs announced (GP, Psychiatry, anaesthesia, GIM/Paeds and Obs & Gyn).
Why did the AMC make this decision?
The main issue appears to be the structure of the training in the UK and Ireland. Australian and Canadian training programs remain broadly generalist across five years, with assessments mapped to this structure. UK training - according to the AMC - tilts towards subspecialisation in the final two years, with flexible special interest rotations built into the program with Ireland doing the same, with a dedicated elective subspecialist year in year five, which can even be completed overseas.
There also seems to be a scope of practice issue. Some women's imaging work in the UK and Ireland is performed by radiographers and obstetrician-gynaecologists, not by radiologists . The AMC seems to raise this as an area of clinical practice that UK-trained radiologists may not have covered in the same way an Australian-trained radiologist would have.
Australian training requirements are documented in considerable detail. UK and Irish programs describe learning outcomes at a much higher level of abstraction. This seems to have made direct comparisons difficult for the AMC and - in the absence of clear equivalence between them - the AMC couldn't confirm substantial equivalence, according to them anyway.
UK-trained radiologists are not excluded from working in Australia. They can still apply through the standard SIMG RANZCR specialist recognition assessment which many have done over the years, which assesses individuals case by case. Unlike other medical colleges, this pathway will almost certainly require a UK-trained radiologist to sit an exam within two years. Statistically, only around one radiologist per year trained outside Australia is assessed as substantially comparable by RANZCR via the SIMG pathway — and therefore exempt from that exam requirement (Medical Board of Australia Report).
This radiology ESP is the only ESP so far which excludes UK training. To date, this ESP is the only one which includes Canadian training. Please contact us for more information about this ESP for radiology, the RANZCR SIMG assessment or to discuss jobs and locations.
Thank you.