If I work part time, will it take longer to get General Registration and/or Fellowship?

This is a FAQ BLOG and you can refer to our Pathways to GP Fellowship in Australia blog here.

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Date Updated: 2024-10-09

Yes, because you need to complete the full time general practice experience (GPE) equivalent time.

RACGP Guidelines

The guidelines for RACGP Fellowship eligibility refer to “Full Time” general practice experience which is defined as “a 38-hour minimum working week which covers:

A minimum of four days per week
A minimum of 27 hours must be in face-to-face, rostered, patient consultation time undertaking general practice activities
Work periods of less than three consecutive hours, or of less than one month in any one practice, will not be considered
Hours worked beyond this definition of full time will not be considered”

RACGP also defines “Part Time” general practice experience as “a 14.5-hour minimum working week with:

A minimum of two days per week
A minimum of 10.5 hours must be in face-to-face, rostered, patient consultation time undertaking general practice activities
Work periods of less than three consecutive hours, or of less than one month in any one practice, will not be considered”

This means if you’re working part time and intending on sitting the FRACGP exams, you’ll need to work for a longer period of time to meet the time and experience requirements.

ACRRM Guidelines

For Fellowship Training Programs, ACRRM defines “Full Time” as “38 hours per week:

Inclusive of clinical, education and administrative activities, and
Training time is not reduced if working more than 38 hours per week, averaged over one month.”

On the other hand, “Part Time” training should “average no less than 16 hours per week over 12 months and must:

Include comparable proportionate exposure and experience to full time training, with clinical, education and administrative activities
Be approved prospectively by the employer.
Registrars training part-time must complete the education program at the same pace as those training full-time.”

Similar to FRACGP, you’ll need to work for a longer period of time to meet the Fellowship requirements if you’ll work part time and sit the FACRRM exams.

It is important to understand this to ensure you’re able to meet the requirements. For many of our doctors, you’re following a fellowship program. One of which is the Fellowship Support Program, which will require you to have 2 years (four terms) of educational component and a valid GPE assessment of 1 year full time equivalent in the last four years to achieve fellowship.

It will also take a minimum of 6 months to complete the exams, which is why you need a time assessment of 4 years (including minimum 12 months in Australian General Practice) to sit fellowship.

We Can Help You

Here at People Medical Consulting, we have a passion for guiding medical practitioners through their career pathways to Australia. We have extensive experience in assisting medical facilities in recruiting doctors from local and overseas who will best suit their requirements.

We provide Document Assistance for those requiring support for their PESCI with IME, ACRRM or RACGP, registration and all other mandatory AHPRA requirements, fellowship program related forms and letters, application for Medicare provider and prescriber numbers, application for 19AB or 19AA exemptions and preparation of employment documents.

If you want to talk to someone about your pathway or practice management—book a consultation with us below, or if you need Recruitment or Document Assistance, contact us at help@peoplemedical.com.au or click the buttons below. We’d be glad to help you!

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Information from this blog has been taken directly from:

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