'All these allied health professionals and you're not really sure when you use them': insights from Australian international medical graduates on working with allied health

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of research which explored how International Medical Graduates (IMGs) understand and integrate with the allied health system in relation to multidisciplinary care. An open-ended, exploratory qualitative design comprised of thirty (n=30) open-ended, in-depth interviews with IMGs employed in a public hospital in Queensland, Australia. RESULTS; Many IMGs have no experience with allied health support in their country of origin. Multidisciplinary collaboration is a new concept for IMGs integrating into the Australia healthcare system. Learning about the allied health system, including how to work effectively within the context of the multidisciplinary team, is an important topic that needs to be addressed as a matter of priority. CONCLUSIONS; There is a strong need to focus on improving strategies for integrating IMGs into the allied health system. In particular, IMGs require information to help them understand the roles and referral processes associated with interfacing with the allied health system.