The impact of language on the registration of immigrant doctors BirrellBob 2017 Before non-English-speaking background doctors holding overseas qualifications can begin the medical and clinical examinations required to practise in Australia they must first pass an English language test. This has proved to be a severe hurdle for some language groups, in many cases delaying their progress and, in others, preventing significant numbers from proceeding to the medical and clinical examinations. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s