Applying for a General Practice Experience Assessment


Page last updated 19 February 2024

1.0 Introduction

Applicants for the General Practice Experience (GPE) Pathway must complete an application for assessment of their general practice experience.

2.0 Definitions

Assessment date means the date to which an applicant’s general practice experience has been assessed, based on work and documentation dates. It is used for the purposes of time calculations in subsequent GPE applications and application for Fellowship via the GPE pathway.

3.0 Guidance

3.1 Accessing the application

3.1.1 Log in to the RACGP website using your existing details or create a new account and access the 'Your Application' page.

3.1.2 Select the application type based on the experience you require to have assessed:

  • Overseas and Australian - if you require only overseas experience assessed or Overseas and Australian experience assessed
  • Australian – if you require only Australian experience assessed

3.1.3 You must pay the assessment fee as determined in 3.1.2. Fees are listed here.
The RACGP accepts Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

3.2 Completing the application

3.2.1 Personal details – personal details will be automatically populated from the RACGP database, you can update personal details as required.

If you have changed your name, through marriage or otherwise, you must provide official evidence of name change such as marriage certificate. Evidence of name change documentation must include your previous name and new name.

You are required to submit a recent signed, comprehensive curriculum vitae (CV) that lists all clinical experience from graduation to current. Only CVs using the RACGP approved CV template will be accepted.

Your CV must be typed and dated within the past three months, and explain any gaps in practice longer than three months.

Documents must be in PDF format and less than 4MB in size. Files bigger than this must be compressed using online file compression software.

3.2.2 Academic Qualifications – you must provide:

  • Your primary medical degree
  • Evidence of completion of internship including rotations undertaken

If original documents are not in English, you must provide certified official and endorsed English translations of these documents in addition to the originals.

You may also provide other qualifications if applicable.

3.2.3 Medical Registration – you must provide:

  • Medical Registrations for all jurisdictions that you are having experience assessed.
  • Current Certificates of Good Standing/Certificate of Professional Conduct from the registering body for each jurisdiction from which you are having experience assessed. All Certificates of Good Standing must be issued within six months of the statutory declaration date of your application. You are not required to provide a Certificate of Good Standing for Australian experience.
  • Evidence of Australian registration while under Level 1 supervision (may include initial approval outcome letters and subsequent registration updates from Ahpra).

If original documents are not in English, you must provide certified official and endorsed English translations of these documents in addition to the originals.

You must complete the Restrictions on Practice section by clicking the link at the bottom of the page.

3.2.4 International general practice experience – for every post in general practice from overseas you would like assessed, you need to fill out a separate post description and complete all questions. If you have changed hours worked or had an extended break in practice from a post you will need to fill this out as a separate post.

Please ensure that you provide sufficient detail to enable the RACGP Assessors to make an accurate assessment of your experience.

To support your application, you will need to provide 100 points of evidence for each post. At least one piece of evidence must be an independently verifiable piece of documentation (Letter of Support), as per the below chart:

The letter of support must:

  • be dated and signed by the Practice Principal (preferably) or Senior Medical Director, CEO, Director, or Practice Manager
  • be on practice letterhead
  • state the specific dates you were/are employed
  • state whether you worked full time or part time AND total hours worked each week
  • state the duration of your weekly work hours (e.g. Monday-Friday 9am-12:30pm & 1:30pm-5pm)
  • state the exact nature of the work you are/were required to cover, including the duties you perform/performed
  • state the hours spent in both face-to-face and telehealth consultation
  • state the range of presentations and demographics of patients.

Independently verifiable documentation

Points

Letters of support from practice principal or practice manager on practice letterhead stating your name, position, hours worked per week (including hours spent in both face-to-face and telehealth consultation), duties (including information about range of presentations and demographic of patients) and dates worked at that practice.

40

Corroborating documentation

Points

Letters from Medical Director or Superintendent from a local hospital on their letterhead, stating the name of the practice, dates you worked there and capacity with which they knew you (maximum of 3 – letters using duplicate templates will not be accepted)

20

Letters from other medical professionals in the region on their letterhead, stating the name of the practice, dates you worked there and capacity with which they knew you (maximum of 3 – letters using duplicate templates will not be accepted)

10

Photocopies / scans of de-identified patient records pulled directly from the practice records x 20 (please upload as a single file)

10

Photos of the practice and facilities featuring yourself in each one x 5 (please upload as a single file)

10

Referral letters you have provided to patients x 5 (de-identified; please upload as a single file)

10

Case histories in the form of a write up - for example, as part of an audit or research x 10 (de-identified; please upload as a single file)

10

Letters from specialists regarding medical reports (feedback from referrals) x 5 (please upload as a single file)

10

Evidence of practice audit participation from an accrediting body conducted during date dates work at practice, including practice details and your name

10

Job roster

5

Statement from an accountant confirming the hours and dates worked in the practice

5

If original documents are not in English, you must provide certified official and endorsed English translations of these documents in addition to the originals.

Alternative documentation

If you cannot provide 100 points of evidence from your practice for any reason, you will need to provide a Commonwealth statutory declaration which must:

  • explain why you are unable to provide 100 points of evidence from your practice
  • explain the steps you have taken to obtain corroborating documentation from your practice (not applicable if you were/are a sole practitioner)
  • state all the information which is required in a letter of support, including:
    • the specific dates you were/are employed
    • whether you work/worked full time or part time AND total hours worked each week
    • the duration of your weekly sessions (eg Monday to Friday, 9am-12:30pm & 1:30pm-5pm)
    • the exact nature of the work you are/were required to cover, including the duties you perform/performed.

To support your application, you will also need to provide 40 points of evidence for each post, as per the list of corroborating documentation in the above chart.

3.2.5 Australian general practice experience – for every post in Australian general practice post you would like assessed, you need to fill out a separate post description and provide a letter of support from your practice. If you have changed hours worked in a post you will need to fill this out as a separate post.

The letter of support must:

  • be dated and signed by the Practice Principal (preferably) or Senior Medical Director, CEO, Director, or Practice Manager
  • be on practice letterhead
  • state the specific dates you were/are employed
  • state whether you worked full time or part time AND total hours worked each week
  • state the duration of your weekly work hours (e.g. Monday-Friday 9am-12:30pm & 1:30pm-5pm)
  • state the exact nature of the work you are/were required to cover, including the duties you performed
  • state the hours spent in both face-to-face and telehealth consultation
  • state the range of presentations and demographics of patients.

The RACGP must receive information about the hours spent in both face-to-face and telehealth consultation, the range of presentations and demographics of patients to be able to determine for each applicable post how telehealth services will be assessed compared to comprehensive general practice.

Alternative documentation

If you cannot provide a letter of support from your practice for any reason, you will need to provide a Commonwealth statutory declaration which must:

  • explain why you are unable to provide a letter of support from your practice
  • explain the steps you have taken to obtain a letter of support from your practice (not applicable if you were/are a sole practitioner)
  • state all the information which is required in the letter of support, including:
    • the specific dates you were/are employed
    • whether you work/worked full time or part time AND total hours worked each week
    • the duration of your weekly sessions (eg Monday to Friday, 9am-12:30pm & 1:30pm-5pm)
    • the exact nature of the work you are/were required to cover, including the duties you performed
    • the hours spent in both face-to-face and telehealth consultation
    • the range of presentations and demographics of patients

To support your application, you will also need to provide 40 points of evidence for each post where a letter of support cannot be provided, as per the below chart:

Alternative documentation

Points

Letters from Medical Director or Superintendent from a local hospital on their letterhead, stating the name of the practice, dates you worked there and capacity with which they knew you (maximum of 3 – letters using duplicate templates will not be accepted)

20

Letters from other medical professionals in the region on their letterhead, stating the name of the practice, dates you worked there and capacity with which they knew you (maximum of 3 – letters using duplicate templates will not be accepted)

10

Photocopies / scans of de-identified patient records pulled directly from the practice records x 20 (please upload as a single file)

10

Photos of the practice and facilities featuring yourself in each one x 5 (please upload as a single file)

10

Referral letters you have provided to patients x 5 (de-identified; please upload as a single file)

10

Case histories in the form of a write up - for example, as part of an audit or research x 10 (de-identified; please upload as a single file)

10

Letters from specialists regarding medical reports (feedback from referrals) x 5 (please upload as a single file)

10

Evidence of practice audit participation from an accrediting body conducted during date dates work at practice, including practice details and your name

10

Job roster

5

Statement from an accountant confirming the hours and dates worked in the practice

5

Proof of a Medicare provider number

5

 

3.2.6 Statutory declaration – once you have finished the form and uploaded all required documents, you will be able to access the statutory declaration screen.

Click ‘Download statutory declaration’ and print the RACGP's  statutory declaration/Indemnity form and all the supporting documents. Take the print out and the original copies of your documents to an eligible witness to be verified. All sections of the form must be completed, signed, dated and witnessed, incomplete forms will not be accepted. Once completed you can scan and upload the first page only.

If the wrong documents appear in your statutory declaration, you may manually add or remove documents after printing. If an unneeded document, for example an outdated certificate of good standing, is included you may simply discard this before taking the document to the witness.

For a list of authorised witnesses please visit the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department.

3.2.7 Submit application – this screen becomes unlocked once all preceding requirements have been completed. You may submit your application for review and assessment.
Please note that experience will be assessed up until the date of the letter of support (or other independently verifiable documentation) from general practice, or up until the date of signing the statutory declaration, whichever is sooner. 

For the purposes of any subsequent 'top-up' applications, general practice experience will be assessed from the previously assigned assessment date.

3.3 Assessment Timelines

3.3.1 Submitted applications are reviewed by RACGP staff and then referred for assessment by the RACGP Assessors under the Assessment of General Practice Experience Policy.

3.3.2 If at any point further information, documentation or clarification is required, you will be contacted via email. You will be able to log into your application, update your application and resubmit your application.

3.3.3 Applicants will be advised of the outcome of their application within ten weeks of submission of a completed application. Unmet requests for further information may delay assessment time beyond this period.

3.3.4 Outcome letters will be delivered via email to your preferred email address. To change your email address please contact the RACGP on 1800 626 901 or racgpeducation@racgp.org.au.

3.4 Assessment Outcome

3.4.1 As per clause 5.2 of the Assessment of General Practice Experience Policy, each clinical post is assessed and assigned a comparability rating. The following table illustrates how particular posts may be rated.

 

Maximum

 

 

Australian Health System

 

Comprehensive 100%

Reduced Scope

75%

Limited Scope

50%

Non general practice

0%

Similar Health System

 

Comprehensive 85%

 

Reduced Scope

75%

Limited Scope

50%

Non general practice

0%

Different Health System

 

Comprehensive 75%

 

Reduced Scope

75%

Limited Scope

50%

Non general practice

0%

For example, if your post was in comprehensive general practice in a similar health system (ie not in Australia), it will be rated as 85% comparable to comprehensive Australian general practice (as defined in clause 4b of the Assessment of General Practice Experience Policy). Conversely, if there was a reduced scope of practice due to a slightly reduced demographic of patients or range of presentations, it will be rated as 75% comparable to comprehensive Australian general practice.

3.4.2 If you believe your GPE outcome was made incorrectly, you may apply for reconsideration as per the Dispute, Reconsideration and Appeals Policy.

To apply for a reconsideration, submit an application within 10 business days of the date of your GPE outcome letter.

4.0 References

Assessment of General Practice Experience Policy
Dispute, Reconsideration and Appeals Policy

 
Version Date of effect Amended by
4 08/02/2024 Education Policy and Guidance Lead
Amendment details
  • Update to clause 3.2.4 and 3.2.5 - Alternative documentation wording and link
  • Update to clause 3.2.6 wording and link
3 31/05/2023 Education Policy and Guidance Coordinator
Amendment details
  • Update to clause 3.2.3
2 6/05/2022 Education Policy and Guidance Lead
Amendment details
  • Update to wording in section 3.2.4
1 17/12/2020 Education Policy and Guidance Lead

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