Accreditation and Supervision

Yes, the FSP requires supervision. It is expected that a vocationally registered doctor in your practice will provide you with supervision and mentorship. If you already have a Supervisor as part of your Ahpra requirements they can continue to support you during the FSP. 

Yes, it's required that FSP participants will work in a practice that is accredited against the RACGP Standards for general practices. Practices will also be required to be accredited against the relevant RACGP Standards for general practice training.

If you are currently working in a practice that is accredited to train Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) registrars, then your practice will be considered as an ‘accredited training site’. If you are working in a practice that is not currently accredited to train AGPT registrars but holds some level of accreditation, then the RACGP will support your practice to achieve accreditation within your first six months in the program against the relevant RACGP Standards for general practice training. If your practice is unable to gain accreditation after this time, we will work with you to find an alternative placement.

If your practice does not hold any form of accreditation, it will not be deemed eligible.

Handbooks:

• FSP Accreditation Standards for Training Sites and Supervisors 
• FSP Accreditation Handbook for Training Sites and Supervisors  
• FSP Training Site and Supervisor Handbook  

In some situations, an offsite supervisor might be approved. If the registrar is unable to receive onsite supervision, they will need to find an offsite supervisor who will be required to submit a supervision plan at the time of the application for entry into the FSP. The approval of the offsite supervision is at the RACGP’s discretion.  

Accreditation encompasses a review of your submitted information and documents as well as a virtual site visit to answer additional questions that you, as a training site may have about what is required as part of hosting an FSP registrar. It also allows the College to review the practice environment to ensure it meets training accreditation standards.  The site will be accredited based on the FSP Accreditation Standards for Training Sites and Supervisors.

Yes, the FSP training site accreditation is the final step to be able to host an FSP registrar. You will not need to be accredited as a FSP Training site if you already have been accredited to be an AGPT accredited training site. RACGP holds records of those training sites and if your site is one of them, you will receive a certificate of accreditation to that effect.

• The FSP site accreditation will be conducted virtually via zoom platform.
• The virtual site visit should not take more 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• We request the practice manager and any other staff who may be involved in the training of the FSP registrar to be present for this meeting.
• The focus of the virtual site visit will be on the practice environment, review of the registrar consulting room, on their teaching and supervision / roster and other general questions related to the practice and staff to deem the practice a suitable and safe environment for the training of the FSP registrar.
• This site visit will not focus on the teaching plans or the practical learning component of the training program but is related to the practice as outlined in the FSP Accreditation Handbook for training sites and specifically to the section ‘Expectations of a Training site’. It is recommended that you read through these before the virtual site visit.
• The practice manager will be sent a link to choose a date and time that suits them and the practice for the virtual site visit. RACGP recognises that general practices are busy providing much needed care for the patients. We are happy to work with you.

There is no cost associated with the accreditation of your practice as an FSP Training site. This is conducted as part of your practice hosting a registrar on the Fellowship Support Program.

If your practice is accredited as a ‘FSP Training Site’ your accreditation will be valid for 3 years from the issue of accreditation with interim monitoring to maintain your accreditation. After 3 years, if your practice continues to host a FSP registrar, your practice will need to undertake a reaccreditation to maintain the FSP Training site status.

There are differences in the FSP and AGPT programs which prevent you from being automatically accredited for both programs if you are accredited for an FSP registrar first. The main one being that the geographical locations of the AGPT practices are identified by Department of Health (DOH) through the work of the workforce planning and prioritisation organisations.

AGPT practices and supervisors are accredited upfront and then go into the placement process, where registrars rotate every 6 months and there is no guarantee of having a registrar placed. A practice may also have times where they do not have a registrar. 

FSP practices and supervisors are nominated via the registrar application and accredited after the registrar has been accepted on the program. The registrar stays at the practice for the entire training time, and you are not limited geographically if you are in a MMM2-7.