Practice Based Assessment (PBA)

Practice Based Assessment (PBA) is an alternative College Fellowship Assessment for general practitioners who wish to achieve Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP). The examination is only open to candidates who qualify via the Practice Eligible pathway and are actively working in general practice. PBA consists of three segments: 

1. Examiner Clinical Visit (ECV) – The ECV is an assessment method using direct observation by an examiner.  The examiner will visit the candidate's practice and observe a general practice session with the patients.
2. Recorded Video Consultations (RC) – The RC is an assessment of the applied knowledge, clinical reasoning, clinical skills, communication skills and professional attitudes in the context of consultations.  Three examiners will mark 15 recorded video consultations out of the 90 consultations submitted by a candidate.
3. Viva – The Viva is an assessment of applied knowledge and skills, clinical decision-making, health promotion, continuity of care, practice management and medical record keeping.  An examiner will conduct and videotape the Viva examination at an agreed scheduled venue.

The three segments are designed to assess competence to undertake unsupervised general practice in Australia.

Please note that candidates may only enrol in either the PBA segments or the College Fellowship exam segments at one time. The credits gained from either the PBA or the College Fellowship exams cannot be 'mixed and matched'.

PBA Enrolment and segment completion

Candidates are expected to undertake all three PBA segments within one stream and have three years (a triennium) from which they pass their first segment to successfully complete all other required segments. 

It remains a requirement of the RACGP that all three segments of the exam be completed within 3 years of passing the first segment of your exams in order to satisfy the requirements for Fellowship.

PBA enrolments are open all year round but divided into two streams.

2013.2 enrolment period

Enrolments for 2013.2 (results to be released April 2014) will be accepted from 14 December 2012 until 14 June 2013, with the following deadlines for segment completion:

Professional Portfolio	5 July 2013
Recorded Consultations	13 September 2013
Viva and ECV to be conducted between	26 August 2013 to 25 October 2013

2014.1 enrolment period

Enrolments for 2014.1 (results to be released September 2014) will be accepted from 15 June 2013 until 13 December 2013.

PBA Fees (GST free and AUD)

2013.2

PBA (coupled=all segments)	$6,915
Viva (uncoupled segment)	$1,800
ECV (uncoupled segment)	$1,800
RVC (uncoupled segment)	$3,315

2014.1 (GST free and AUD)

PBA (coupled=all segments)	$7470
Viva (uncoupled segment)	$1945
ECV (uncoupled segment)	$1945
RVC (uncoupled segment)	$3580

Why have the fees increased?

PBA Fellowship exam fees rise annually in response to the increasing costs of exam delivery. 

As highlighted above, intensive resourcing is needed to assess the various components of the PBA, including extensive examiner, travel and assessment costs.  The increases in costs to deliver these services has exceeded the rate of fee increase for several years, with the RACGP now needing to increase fees to fund a range of improvement initiatives.  These will include development and delivery of an enhanced examiner training program, clearer policy documentation on the RACGPs website and streamlined internal processes to reduce timelines between assessment activities. 

Financial hardship

The RACGP has a special consideration policy which allows for the provision of payment plans for those facing financial hardship.   Please see the special consideration policy for further details, www.racgp.org.au/education/fellowship/fellowship-of-the-racgp/policies/  

Payment options

Payment is made at the time of enrolment by either credit card or cheque. 

For detailed information, please refer to the PBA Handbook or contact the Fellowship Services Branch on 1800 626 901 or email racgpeducation@racgp.org.au.