Frequently Asked

Questions

Q: What does it cost to get started? There are no medical centre set up cost for the doctor. There are usually incentives provided by Ochre to assist you with relocation and in New South Wales you may be eligible for a Rural Doctor Network relocation grant. For full-time doctors, Ochre provides a house (3 to 4 bedrooms) and for doctors that cover their local hospital we provide a fully maintained family size car.

Q: Does Ochre support best medical practice? All Ochre medical centres are accredited with AGPAL to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) standards. Ochre provides an annual education grant of $2,000 to all full-time permanent doctors, and encourages and supports all doctors that do not have their fellowship in General Practice to attain it. Ochre has enrolled three Medical Centres in the APCC (Australian Primary Care Collaboratives) which is Australia’s best national program to achieve meaningful quality improvement in patient care. Ochre runs and facilitates a number of education events such as an annual accredited Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Paediatric Advanced Life Support course, and an annual Family and Education Weekend for all staff.

Q: What will I earn? Ochre doctors are employed on a contract basis. The amount of income a doctor will earn will depend on how busy they are and what sort of Medicare services they bill. The doctor pays a percentage (usually 40%) of their medical centre turnover to Ochre for administration support. A number of medical centres will pay up to 65%, however in addition to administration support Ochre also provides the doctor with a fully serviced car and fuel card, effectively increasing doctor income to 65%.
Ochre is there to support each doctor to run a successful practice and work smarter rather than work harder to generate income and better patient outcomes.Local hospital coverage provides a guaranteed payment for every day of cover and as each doctor is aware of how many days cover they will be doing per week it is possible to approximate the doctor’s total earnings. Indicative payments for full time doctors are usually about AUS$300,000 or more per year.

Q: How will I get time away? Ochre doctors have a busy job and we encourage them to take a minimum six weeks leave each year. The Ochre Group has the capacity to find you a locum when needed. Although the doctor does not get paid when on leave they also are able to access locums at no expense (it is not uncommon in Australia for locums to be engaged at a financial loss to the medical centre).

Q: How will my spouse go with the move to a rural town? ?Ochre knows if you have a partner, their happiness will be critical for you to settle into a new town. Ochre will assist in trying to find work for a spouse if needed. We also know that suitable accommodation is important and can look at finding or modifying a house to suit your family circumstances. We know each doctor is unique and we have a flexible attitude to assisting your family settle into a new community.

Q: How long would I need to work for? Ochre’s medical positions are set up in such a way that you can commit for as short as one year or longer. When you leave it is our responsibility to find the doctor to replace you and maintain the medical records. For International Medical Graduates it's good to be familiar with the rules in Australia around Area of Need and District of Workforce Shortage as these rules may determine how long you will need to work in a rural location before moving to a position in a larger town or city.

Q: Does Ochre engage doctors based overseas? Ochre medical centres have many excellent overseas trained doctors. Doctors with Australian and NZ degrees working in Australia are welcome to contact Ochre Health directly. Doctors with overseas degrees or not working in Australia will need a more involved assessment by Ochre’s recruitment department in Hobart. Priority will be given to doctors who have degrees from countries such as the UK, South Africa, Canada and Ireland and/or significant work experience in those countries. It's important that the doctor become familiar with the Australian Area of Need, District of Workforce Shortage and Immigration requirements, and this can be done with the assistance of your Hobart based recruitment consultant. For more information on working in Australia or New Zealand please visit Ochre Recruitment’s site [click here].