Practice Experience Program Specialist (PEP SP) Application Handbook

Comparability assessment

Am I eligible to apply for a comparability assessment?

Practice Experience Program Specialist (PEP SP) Application Handbook
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Applying for a comparability assessment

Am I eligible to apply for a comparability assessment?

You can only apply for a comparability assessment if you meet the prerequisites below:

  • you were awarded a primary qualification in medicine and surgery by a training institution recognised by both the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS),
  • you have satisfied all the training and examination requirements to practice as a specialist general practitioner and have been awarded a specialist general practice qualification in your country of origin, and
  • the curriculum of your specialist general practice qualification has been recognised by the RACGP.

How can I check if my curriculum has been recognised by the RACGP?

The RACGP has reviewed curricula from various overseas specialist general practice qualifications and assessed them as ‘substantially comparable’, ‘partially comparable’ or ‘not comparable’ depending on their level of comparability to the RACGP curriculum and syllabus for Australian general practice.

To check if your curriculum has been reviewed for comparability and how it was assessed, you can go to the curricula classification.

If your curriculum is listed as:

If your curriculum is not listed, it means it has not been assessed by the RACGP. You will need to apply for a curriculum assessment as per the following instructions. You can contact the RACGP at educationsupport@racgp.org.au for further information and to obtain the curriculum assessment application form. The RACGP will not charge a fee to undertake the curriculum assessment.

1. First, you will need to contact your college, training organisation or medical board to obtain these documents:

  • a copy of their specialist general practice curriculum,
  • an official letter from them confirming:
    • it is their curriculum,
    • the general practice qualification it leads to,
    • the curriculum year, and
    • the year you obtained your qualification.
  • an official document outlining the good medical practice guidelines and ethics for the country or region in which you completed the requirements for your international qualification.

Important

If any of these documents are not in English, you must provide a copy of the original and a certified official translation with your application.

2. Once you have gathered the required documentary evidence, you can complete the application form. You will need sign it, scan it and return it to educationsupport@racgp.org.au along with copies of the documentary evidence listed  above.

3. You will receive the outcome of the curriculum assessment within ten weeks of submitting your application.


Note: If you hold the International Conjoint Fellowship of the RACGP (ICFRACGP) and you wish to apply for the PEP SP, please email us at educationsupport@racgp.org.au for more information.

Important

The outcome of your comparability assessment is NOT solely determined by the outcome of your curriculum assessment. Eg even if your curriculum is assessed as ‘substantially comparable’, you may still be deemed Partially Comparable or Not Comparable after all other comparability criteria have been assessed. For more information, please go to the PEP SP Comparability Assessment Guide.

Once you have confirmed that you meet the comparability assessment prerequisites, you must apply to have your overseas medical qualifications verified for authenticity. Your medical qualifications include your primary medical degree and your specialist general qualification certificate.

Verification is done using the Electronic Portfolio of International Credentials (EPIC) service provided by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Step-by-step instructions on how to apply for verification are available on the ECFMG website.

During your application, you will obtain two important numbers – make sure you write them down as you will need to provide them with your comparability assessment application:

  • EPIC ID (or EPIC number): this number provides evidence that you have applied for EPIC verification.
  • AMC candidate number: this number provides evidence that you have established an AMC portfolio; it will be used by the RACGP to confirm that your qualification has been verified by EPIC.

You may submit your Comparability Assessment application even if the EPIC verification hasn’t been completed yet, provided you give us your EPIC ID as evidence that you have applied for verification. Your application will not be finalised until we can confirm EPIC verification.

You and the AMC will be notified when the verification of your qualification has been completed.

 

Checklist – What to do before you can apply for a comparability assessment
☐ I have checked that my primary qualification in medicine and surgery is from a training institution recognised by both the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS).
☐ I have satisfied all the training and examination requirements to practice as a specialist general practitioner and have been awarded a specialist general practice qualification in my country of origin.
☐ I have checked that the curriculum of my specialist general practice qualification has been assessed as ‘substantially comparable’ or ‘partially comparable’ to the RACGP curriculum.
☐ I have applied for primary source verification of my medical qualifications via EPIC.
☐ I understand that the outcome of my comparability assessment is NOT solely based upon the outcome of my curriculum assessment. All comparability criteria must be assessed before the RACGP can confirm my final comparability assessment outcome.

 
 
 
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