The Fellowship Journey
Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) denotes a practitioner who provides safe, specialised and high-quality general practice care. It demonstrates to governments, the general practice profession and the community that a doctor is competent to practise safely and unsupervised in any Australian general practice setting – metropolitan, rural, remote and very remote communities. It also allows access to specialist medical registration and A1 Medicare rebates.
The RACGP offers two Fellowships:
- Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP) is what all registrars are training towards on the Fellowship Support Program (FSP).
- RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship (FRACGP-RG) is awarded in addition to FRACGP to registrars who successfully complete rural generalist training.
Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP)
Being awarded Fellowship of the RACGP means that you are deemed to be competent to deliver safe, specialised and high-quality general practice care anywhere in Australia.
The pathway to Fellowship involves recognising differences in experience, formal and informal learning, required general practice experience and assessment processes, including formative and summative assessments. The Fellowship of the RACGP is underpinned by a comprehensive suite of RACGP educational materials, including the RACGP educational framework, Progressive capability profile of the general practitioner, Curriculum and syllabus for Australian general practice and the Standards for general practice training.
Rural Generalist Fellowship (FRACGP-RG)
The RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship aims to develop additional rural skills and increase the availability of safe, accessible and comprehensive care for Australia’s rural, remote and very remote communities. It replaces the Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP) and aligns with the National Rural Generalist Pathway. It is awarded in addition to the Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP).
Rural Generalist Fellowship recognises rural generalist medicine as a specialised field within the specialty of general practice. Rural generalists deliver primary care services, emergency medicine and additional skills such as obstetrics, anaesthetics and mental health services to provide access to a broader range of specialist medical care in their communities.
The Rural Generalist (RG) Fellowship is awarded in addition to the vocational Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP). Rural generalist registrars complete an extra year of training to develop additional rural skills.
Figure 1: RACGP journey to Fellowship