Update Palmy
UPDATE 16/09/2026 "Palmy"
This is not recruiting, industrial, immigration, personal financial or tax advice, but an outline of where to start if you consider becoming an expat doctor or at least a working holiday to New Zealand.
First, find a position using kiwihealthjobs.com. Other job boards may have some variety, but this is maintained by the health sector, and all open positions will be listed here. There may be more, and cold calling or emails are reasonable. Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand is maintaining national recruitment, but local hospitals still have offices. This is mixed with a wide variety of responsiveness and press, so be persistent and ask.
Attending physicians are emergency consultants in Kiwi, or Senior Medical Officer(SMO) positions are also sometimes advertised. Anything else: registrar, house officer, resident medical officer (RMO) or junior doctors. The paperwork and visa applications are extensive, so most positions are only offered as short as 8-month to 1 year contracts to international candidates. I am biased towards taking a full-time position. I was told when I wanted to take a 2 year position, to just take a permenant position, do ACEM SIMG pathway, then you can move on from the sponsoring site anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.
Contract ASMS is happy to review contracts free of charge. You can also search the current contract and salary steps on ASMS Single Employer Collective Agreement. The detail is why a review is so helpful: what step, what FTE, and what "penal rates" are often utilised. I am happy to review contracts for free. As a residency director, recruitment committee member for a mid-tier group, current branch president of ASMS and PhD candidate in health economics, I am nosey and mildly qualified but happy to be sceptical and independent. The nationalised health system isn't, and the payroll system is struggling.
I have hired a few through locum agencies that have been successful; the devil, like everything, is in the details. Be aware some of them want you to buy out the recruitment fee if you stay so just read through carefully. I work for Te Whatu Ora and contract with Emergency Consult, a telehealth provider. EC has not started sponsoring visas, last I checked, but definitely employs overseas docs with Kiwi credentials.
The position is first, they will help with MCNZ; you will start with provisional registration tied to an organisation. After 6-12 months, you aim for vocational registration, which untethers your registration from the initial hiring position.
ACEM has a SIMG Specialist International Medical Graduate pathway which is straightforward and takes a year or less between the interview which can be done now prior to arrival in New Zealand and the supervision period. You should have a sit-down with a few people if you get this far, but happy if you reach back out to me. tec@docdude.dad I have helped with supervision and have seen 10 successful candidates and 1 unsuccessful candidate from 2 continents. This is worth the effort as regional options become available.
ahh taxes I could go on all day but you have shared tax status with the US and NZ for 4 years but filings get more complicated right away. So get formal advice and if you have assets learn the options. New Zealand has no capital gains tax which the International Monetary Fund recommends; this lack of tax contributes to the weird housing and rental market, but they have a wealth tax on foreign capital under FIF rules. Derek Sivers was credited on the subtle art of not giving a f#4k with this gem which seems fair "Everywhere in the world has the same tax rate you just pay in different ways".
Have fun at the rest of ACEP26 in Chicago, message me I will be around. Follow the blog; happy to help.