The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

1. General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) Pathway Handbook

This handbook outlines for Fellowship applicants the experience, education and assessment requirements to enter the General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) Pathway to Fellowship. 2. Definitions

Fellow: A general practitioner (GP) who has been admitted to Fellowship (or is a Fellow) of the RACGP. Fellowship is granted to those who demonstrate that they have reached the standard required for unsupervised general practice in Australia. General practice: Please see www.racgp.org.au/whatisgeneralpractice 3. the definition of General practice at

Requirements for the General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) pathway

In order to obtain Fellowship of the RACGP via the General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) pathway, candidates are required to: 1. Undertake assessment to ensure they have the required experience (this is currently four (4) years in general practice, of which one (1) year must be undertaken in Australian general practice) or provide proof they hold the necessary qualifications, to be eligible for the RACGP Fellowship Assessments; and 2. Pass the Fellowship Assessments, either through the Fellowship exams (exams) or the Practice Based Assessment (PBA); and 3. Fulfil all other requirements for Fellowship, including: a) five (5) years of general practice experience; b) seven (7) years post graduate experience; c) financial membership of the College; and d) current Australian medical registration. 3.1 3.1.1 Eligibility for Fellowship Assessment General Practice Experience

Most applicants wishing to undertake Fellowship assessments via the General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) pathway must have their working experience in general practice (either in Australia or overseas) assessed. Applicants are required to have four (4) years of full time (or part time equivalent) general practice experience. Furthermore, at least one (1) year must have been gained in Australian general practice. If you are assessed to have less then four (4) years total general practice experience including one year Australian general practice, you will need to submit another application after you have worked the required, outstanding time in general practice. (i) Application process

If you have been working overseas in general practice, whether you have been working in Australia or not, you will need to fill out an Assessment of Overseas and Australian General Practice Experience form. If you have been working only in Australian general practice, you will need to fill out the Assessment of Australian General Practice Experience form. Once Education Services receives the General Practice Experience application, it is checked to ensure all the required documentation has been received.
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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

If there are any missing documents, applicants will be contacted and asked to submit this documentation within 10 working days in order for the application to proceed. Any application that remains incomplete after two weeks will be returned to the applicant. Once a complete application is sent to the College Censors for assessment, the assessment process may take up to four weeks. During this time College Censors may request further information in order to complete their assessment. When the assessment process is finalised all applicants will receive a confirmation letter outlining the outcome of their assessment of general practice experience. Applications need to be received in sufficient time to ensure processing for any given enrolment period. The College advertises the deadline dates by which assessments must be received in order to ensure the assessment is completed and the applicant is notified of the outcome. If you believe the RACGP has made an error with your assessment of time you may request a reconsideration of that assessment. For further information on this, please refer to the Board of Censors' Decisions Reviews policy or contact racgpeducation@racgp.org.au . (ii) General practice assessment fees

The current fees are listed on the International Medical Graduates (IMG) in Australia page. Please note that different fees apply for both types of assessment (refer to the table of fees towards the bottom of the page). 3.1.2 General Practice Experience with Qualifications

A small number of applicants who have recognised General Practice or Family Medicine qualifications (listed below) and received Australian Medical Registration on or before 31 January 2010 may be eligible to sit the exams without having their time assessed. Evidence of Australian Medical Council (AMC) approval of the secondary qualification must be available upon request: Australia - The RACGP Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Training (CSCT) Belgium - Specialist Certificate in General Practice / Family Medicine Canada - Certificate in Family Practice from the College of Family Physicians of Canada Denmark - Specialist Certificate in Family Medicine Netherlands - Certificate of Specific Training for General Practice Norway - Certificate of Specific Training for General Medical Practice Singapore - Master of Medicine (Family Medicine) from the National University in Singapore South Africa - Member of The College of Family Practitioners of the South African College of General Practice, Registration as a Family Physician with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, Master of Family Medicine, or Master of Prax Medicine Sweden - Certificate of Specific Training for General Practice UK - Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Certificate of the Joint Committee in Postgraduate Training for General Practice, or Certificate from the Post Medical Education Training Board USA - Certificate of the American Board of Family Practice

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Applicants wishing to pursue this pathway should contact Education Services for further information. You must be able to provide: a) A letter from the Australian Medical Council (AMC) on AMC letterhead verifying the secondary medical qualification, or an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG ) International Credentials Services (EICS); b) Receipt from the AMC verifying that you have applied for verification; c) A certified copy of the secondary medical qualification, officially translated into English where necessary; and d) Evidence that Australian medical registration was issued on or before 31 January 2010. 3.2 Fellowship Assessment

The doctor must be assessed by the RACGP as competent for unsupervised general practice anywhere in Australia. Candidates on the General Practice Experience pathway are eligible to progress to Fellowship by either successfully completing the RACGP Fellowship exams or the Practice Based Assessment (PBA). Please note, as one of the eligibility requirements, all candidates must hold current medical registration throughout the assessment process. Candidates who lose their medical registration must inform the RACGP and withdraw from any assessments. Enrolling or presenting for any assessments without current Australian medical registration will be considered academic misconduct under the Academic Misconduct Policy and will be handled as per that policy. To view the Academic Misconduct Policy, please go to www.racgp.org.au/education/fellowship/fellowship-of-the-racgp/policies/. For further information on both these assessment methods, please review the appropriate handbook: 3.3 The Exam handbook The Practice Based Assessment Handbook Letters of status

Candidates on the GPE pathway who are working towards Fellowship of the RACGP may apply to the RACGP for a letter confirming their progress towards Fellowship. Letters of status may be needed in relation to medical registration, a provider number, or visa requirements. A doctor is considered by the RACGP to be on the GPE pathway once an application for assessment of general practice experience has been received. To request a Letter of RACGP Fellowship Status, please see the Letters of RACGP Fellowship Status page at www.racgp.org.au/becomingagp/imgaus/letter-of-status/. 4. Applying for Fellowship

Upon completion of all College Fellowship assessments, a Fellowship application form will become available to candidates through the result screen on the website. 4.1.1 Requirements for Fellowship

Candidates on the General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) Pathway must have completed five (5) years in general practice, of which one (1) must be in Australian general practice.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

If a candidate was assessed as not having five (5) years general practice experience in their initial assessment, they will be required to provide a letter from their employer confirming they have worked in general practice for the required time. If a candidate was assessed as not having seven (7) years post graduate experience in their initial assessment, they will be required to provide a current curriculum vitae (CV, or resume) illustrating they have worked for the required time. All candidates applying for Fellowship must also: a) Hold Medical Registration as per the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency website www.ahpra.gov.au (including those whose registration renewal application is being processed); and b) Hold current financial membership of the College.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

1. 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 POLICY TITLE Policy number: Category: Approval date: Revision due date: Unit responsible ASSESSMENT OF GENERAL PRACTICE EXPERIENCE AS-E-022.2 Educational October 2012 October 2013 Education Services

2.

POLICY DECLARATION

The purpose of the policy is to ensure the College maintains standards for determining eligibility for enrolment in the College Fellowship assessments. The College also wishes to recognise a broad range of experience and background among applicants who wish to proceed to Fellowship. This policy defines the principles which underpin the assessment of general practice experience. This assessment is required by General Practice Experience applicants and some applicants through the Specialist Pathway Program in order to be eligible for enrolment in the College Fellowship Assessments. Eligibility for these pathways depends in part on recognised work experience in general practice. This policy is authorised by the CEO. 3. i) BACKGROUND Objectives

The objectives of this policy are to: Define the principles which underpin the assessment of time Provide guidelines for applicants preparing an application for the assessment of International General Practice experience and/or Australian General Practice experience Highlight particular posts that are considered to be general practice or not general practice and the rules that may be applicable to them

3.1

Related Policies, Documents, Legislation & Strategic Priorities

Academic Misconduct Policy Board of Censors Decisions Reviews Policy RACGP Definition of General Practice What is General Practice? Witnessing and Certifying of Documentation Policy 4. 4.1 BODY OF POLICY Assessment of general practice experience

In order to establish eligibility to participate in any of the College Fellowship assessments applicants following the General Practice Experience pathway and some applicants through the Specialist Pathway Program must have their general practice experience assessed prior to enrolling in the College Fellowship assessments. For information about the requirements of the General Practice Experience pathway, please refer to http://www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/practiceeligible. To view which candidates from the specialist pathway require a time assessment, please view the specialist pathway webpage at www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/specialistpathway.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

All applicants are required to submit detailed and complete documentation of their general practice experience to allow for appropriate assessment. Applicants having their international time assessed must also provide full details of the nature of their international general practice experience and how it compares to that in Australia (the similarities and differences), to enable the College Censors to assess its equivalence to general practice in Australia. 4.2 General Practice

General practice equivalency is based on the Colleges definition of what is general practice which can be viewed at www.racgp.org.au/whatisgeneralpractice. General practice will also be considered in the context of the Australian health care system. In preparing their application applicants should use the definition of general practice as a guide to the comparability of their international experience and should also consult the Standards for general practice, specifically standards 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, and 3.1. 4.2.1 The Definition of General Practice As a discipline, general practice, its practice teams and their primary health care relationships comprise the foundations of an effective health care system. As a relationship based specialist medical discipline, general practice clinicians are defined by the characteristics of their discipline, which are: person centredness continuity of care comprehensiveness whole person care diagnostic and therapeutic skill coordination and clinical teamwork continuing quality improvement professional, clinical and ethical standards leadership, advocacy and equity continuing evolution of the discipline

For detailed descriptions on the principles of general practice, please see www.racgp.org.au/whatisgeneralpractice. 4.3 4.3.1 Overarching principles The Ten-Year Rule As medicine is a constantly changing and evolving field, the experience must be relevant to current general practice. For this reason, only time worked in the ten years prior to the date of signing of the indemnity form will be assessed by the College Censors. 4.3.2 Verifiability of information Applicants are expected to provide current, full and verifiable information in their assessments. A College Censor or delegate (which may include a staff member of the College) may take reasonable steps to verify information provided by applicants to ensure the integrity of the information provided. Any false or misleading information will be progressed as per the Academic Misconduct policy.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

4.3.3 Specificity of information Applicants are required to provide specific information for each post claimed in their application. Duplicated descriptions of posts will not be considered by the College Censors. 4.3.4 Full Time General Practice Full time general practice is 37 hours worked per week in typical general practice activities. Full time general practice must include work spread over a minimum of four days, none of which may be less than 3.5 consecutive hours. Working longer hours in a week will not be calculated to accrue the doctor more than one weeks working time if the doctor is seeking an assessment of general practice experience. Full time work over the course of 12 months may include up to 4 weeks annual leave. 4.3.5 Part Time General Practice Experience greater than 10.5 hours per week but less than full time will be calculated on a pro-rata basis as determined by the hours worked. Part time experience in general practice must be for a minimum of: a) 10.5 hours per week; and b) over two days per week with no periods of work shorter than 3.5 consecutive hours; and c) one month in any one practice. 4.3.6 General Practice experience as a secondary post or conducted after hours The College recognises that general practice work may be undertaken as a second job capacity, and that that general practice posts may operate outside normal operating hours. They will assess each application on the basis of the nature of the work conducted and the nature of the practice itself for its equivalence to general practice. 4.4. 4.4.1 Principles behind comparability of general practice experience posts Fully comparable Australian and International experience If a post is considered to be equivalent to Australian general practice as per the definition in section 4.2.1, then the required general practice time, or up to five years general practice experience equivalent (subject to any requirement for Australian general practice experience) may be accrued in this post. If the experience is fully comparable, one years time in a post is equivalent to one years practice in Australia. For example, a fully comparable role in an International post may accrue an applicant five years general practice experience, however an applicant will still be required to fulfil the requirement of one year general practice experience in Australia prior to becoming eligible for enrolment in the College examinations. Please note the College retains that right at its discretion to not recognise any post as wholly comparable with the RACGPs definition of general practice. 4.4.2 Partially comparable experience caps If an applicants experience in a particular post is not considered sufficiently similar to the definition of general practice at 4.2.1, then the censors will decide if the time which can be recognised from such a post is substantially, partially, or not sufficiently similar to the definition of general practice.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

If an applicants experience is found to be substantially similar to the definition of general practice, the censors will calculate the general practice experience at a three quarter rate up to a cap of three and a half years. If an applicants experience is found to be partially similar to the definition of general practice, the censors will calculate the general practice experience at a half time up to a cap of two and a half years. For example, if a general practice role held for an international military or other governmental organisation is held for a period of 14 years, then the maximum time recognisable from this post may be capped at two and a half years. 4.5 4.5.1 Rules for specific general practice posts Fully equivalent posts Experience in the posts listed below may be fully equivalent to Australian general practice. All posts will be assessed on the individualised post descriptions for their equivalence with Australian general practice as defined above in section 4.2.1. Post descriptions should include full, individualised, verifiable information including time breakdowns of both clinical and non-clinical tasks: a) Queensland Medical Superintendents b) Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service posts (ACCHS) c) Royal Flying Doctors Service posts If upon assessment the College Censors do not find the post to be fully equivalent with the definition of general practice, they may find that this post can only provide up to a maximum of two and half years Australian general practice experience. 4.5.2 Partially comparable posts These roles are considered not to be equivalent to the description of general practice above, but are still considered a valuable part of medicine and medical training. For these reasons they may be assessed as a providing a limited amount of the required time for general practice experience. a) Australian Accredited Medical Deputising Services Work in an accredited medical deputising service may count as 100% time equivalent to general practice experience for up to a maximum of two and a half years Australian general practice experience. For the purposes of this document, accredited means a practice has reached the required standards as set out in the RACGP Standards for General Practices and can provide evidence of accreditation by an appropriate body, such as AGPAL or GPA. Employment in non-accredited medical deputising services is not considered equivalent to general practice. This time may make up to half of the Australian experience required for eligibility to enrol. b) Australian Locum Work Full time locums held for more than three months will be considered the same as full time general practice work.

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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Full time locum posts held for a minimum of one week and less than three months in any one practice will be recognised as equivalent to full time general practice. For these roles there will be maximum recognition of two and a half years Australian general practice experience time. Part time locums who work a minimum of 10.5 hours per week and have been in the post for at least one month may have their time recognised. The maximum recognition available is two years Australian general practice experience, with discretion where continuity of care can be demonstrated. c) Australian medical posts of limited application These posts include, but are not limited to: a) Addiction; b) Aged care; c) Custodial; d) Refugee; e) Military; f) Australian Defence Force Experience medicine;

For these special purposes roles the College Censors will recognise only one of these areas per application up to a maximum of 50% equivalency with general practice, for up to two years Australian general practice time. For example, an applicant working in a military medicine post full time for 6 years will have their time assessed firstly for equivalence with the general practice at 50%, which is 3 years, however as it may only count for up to half of the general practice experience required this time will be capped at 2 and a half years. d) Australian Hospital Emergency Department Australian Hospital Emergency department work is not considered general practice experience in urban and regional centres. In hospitals in smaller rural centres where the hospital is providing primary care to population (and where a high standard of proof can be shown) a maximum of 6 months may be recognised towards the applicants general practice experience. e) Academic General Practice If academic general practice is undertaken concurrently with at least the minimum part time requirements (as set out in 4.3.3) per week, it may contribute up to an additional 10.5 hours per week to the assessable general practice experience. 5. 5.1 PROCEDURES International and/or Australian general practice experience assessment

Applications for assessment of general practice experience must be done on the appropriate form, either: Assessment of International general practice experience form; or Assessment of Australian general practice experience form
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General Practice Experience (Practice Eligible) Handbook Education Services October 2012

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners

Applicants wishing to claim both Australian and international experience will need to complete both forms with the relevant history in each application. Applicants are required to submit a complete application. Requests from the College for clarification and/or additional information for an application will delay the progress of the application. Once the complete application form is received by the College Censors for assessment, assessment may take up to three weeks depending on circumstances and the number of applications received. If further information is required from the applicant this time period may have to be extended. Applicants intending to enrol in the College examinations must submit their application for assessment of international and/or Australian general practice experience no later than eight weeks before the close of enrolments. Applicants must forward the complete application form with the relevant application fee. Visit www.racgp.org.au/assessment/pathways/practiceeligible for the current fees. 5.2 Right of reconsideration

If an applicant is dissatisfied with the assessment of general practice experience, and believes the College has erred in its decision, s/he may apply for reconsideration of that decision. For further information please view the Board of Censors Decisions Review Policy.? Link? Please note, reconsiderations must be received no later than 10 working days after receiving an assessment decision, and accompanied by the required fee. 5.3 Review of this policy

The review cycle for this policy is three years.

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