Read time: 6 minutes
If you are an IMG in Australia, this question comes up sooner or later.
Should I focus on WBA, or should I push for the AMC Clinical Exam?
I often hear candidates asking if they should abandon the AMC Clinical Exam to hunt for a Workplace Based Assessment (WBA) position instead.
They look at the 99 percent WBA pass rate versus the 24 percent clinical pass rate for 2024 to 2025, and suddenly the decision feels obvious. But choosing a pathway based purely on pass rates is a trap that leaves highly capable doctors unemployed and waiting for years.
Are you making a strategic choice, or just hiding from the exam?
Because these are not the same pathway wearing different clothes. One is a national clinical assessment. The other is an employment-linked assessment pathway inside a real service. If you misunderstand that difference, you can lose a year without realising it.
Look at the recent AMC data from over 4,000 IMGs. Sixty percent of Standard Pathway candidates are trapped in delays. The system stalls them at two main gates: passing the clinical exam (55 percent) and securing a job offer for limited registration (60 percent). Do not become part of that statistic.
Do not hand your future to chance.
The 2023 Kruk Report maps the true complexity of the Australian IMG journey. This is exactly why you cannot afford to leave your progression to chance.
Here’s how I explain each one when I coach candidates through this decision.
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Find the real bottleneck
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Separate seat speed from system speed
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Treat WBA as a job pathway
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Count the money honestly
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Keep AMC exam fitness alive
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Run a two-track strategy until one closes
