Choose your own path
Making the decision to become a GP can open up a life of endless possibilities – even more so if you decide to pursue the rural pathway.
When you apply for the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program with the RACGP, you can choose either the general or rural pathway. This will determine where you’ll be based to complete your training.
You can opt in to the AGPT Rural Generalist Policy (AGPT RG) at any stage of your training. You can also opt out of rural generalist training if your situation changes down the track, and continue your AGPT training with no disruption.
This allows you the time to understand which training pathway is best suited to you and the needs of your community.
We also offer the Fellowship of Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP) which you can work towards while training as a registrar. The FARGP provides an opportunity to develop additional procedural or non-procedural skills, emergency medicine skills and to build greater connections with your community.
Fellowship of the RACGP will allow you to work in unsupervised general practice anywhere in Australia, joining more than 23,000 GPs who have completed their training with us since 1958. You can apply for the AGPT Program any time from your intern year onwards.
Find out more about pathways
Your journey towards a career of endless possibilities starts now
Applications for the final 2021 intake of the AGPT Program are open on Monday 31 August 2020.
Take your next step into the varied and fulfilling life of a GP.
Choose the rural pathway and help address inequalities in healthcare and ensure all Australians have access to same high quality of care.
Express your interest
Broaden your horizons and your practice
Training to become a rural or remote GP offers more variety, flexibility and lifestyle options than any other medical specialty. It’s where you can have real impact; where it’s needed most. Training places are available all over Australia – from towns on the fringe of capital cities, to regional coastal areas and remote outback locations. Living and working in a local community will provide you with opportunities to realise your full potential as a GP.
Benefits of choosing the rural pathway with the RACGP
- Access additional skills training such as mental health, addiction medicine, paediatrics, anaesthetics, surgery and obstetrics.
- Gain a greater depth and breadth of experience working more closely with local communities.
- Experience both hospital and community-based primary care.
- Play a part in addressing the health needs of communities with lower access to health care.
- Access mentors and professional relationships which may not be possible in metropolitan areas.
- Increase your earning capacity – some placements offer financial incentives not available in metropolitan locations.
- Enjoy lifestyle benefits of country living and being immersed in local communities.
- Connect with likeminded colleagues through national faculties including RACGP GPs in Training, RACGP Rural and RACGP Specific Interests.
The diversity in health presentations means rural and remote GPs can expand their skills and take on a variety of clinical opportunities in hospital and community-based work using a range of procedural and non-procedural skills, emergency response, after-hours services, outreach clinics and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health initiatives.
What's it really like to train on the rural pathway?
"I like the fact that I care for patients with more challenging needs, particularly when it comes to mental health, sexual health, women’s reproductive choices and palliative care because there are gaps in the services offered locally."
Dr Damian Hannon
Gippsland, EVGPT
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"Working in the country, I also have the privilege of a wide variety of cases to manage and coordinate simply because the access to subspecialties is more restricted - but have found my medical peers incredibly supportive and always happy to answer calls from a country GP seeking support."
Dr Kane Treble
Mildura, MCCC
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"It’s a wonderful opportunity to enhance your skills, especially as you don’t feel like you have to refer everything on. And realistically, out here you can’t. It gives you more confidence when treating patients, and that translates into you becoming a better doctor overall."
Dr Isaac Tranter
Goondiwindi, GPTQ
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"I wasn’t interested in sitting in a consulting room in private practice, seeing one patient after the other. I wanted to go out bush, to meet people living out there, and to deliver health services where it’s really needed."
Dr Bernadette Hader
Nhulunbuy, NTGPE
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"I get to see my patients again and follow up. I get to look after their kids, their mums, their neighbours. It’s all about community, which I love."
Dr Natalie Fonda
Sunshine Coast, JCU
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"I needed the independence and to take control over my career so that I could fulfil my desires within and outside medicine."
Dr Wissam Ghamrawi
Gippsland, EVGPT
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AGPT Program 2021 key dates
| First Intake |
| 10am AEDT Monday 22 March |
Applications open |
| 11:59pm AEST Tuesday 20 April |
Applications close |
| Tuesday 25 May |
Deadline for eligibility confirmation |
| Wednesday 2 June |
Close of CAAKT enrolments |
| Wednesday 16 June – Thursday 17 June |
First intake CAAKT |
| Thursday 8 July - Tuesday 13 July |
Applicant preference change period |
| Thursday 15 July |
RTOs and applicants advised of interview allocations |
| Friday 16 July – Friday 23 July |
RTOs schedule first intake interviews with applicants |
| Saturday 24 July – Sunday 8 August |
First intake interviews |
| Monday 9 August – Thursday 19 August |
First intake offer management by RTOs |
| Friday 20 August |
First intake offers finalised |
What you need to know
Application and selection process
Find out what's involved in the application and selection process of the AGPT Program with the RACGP.
Find out more
Regional training organisations
You can nominate up to four regions where you’d like to do your training. Find out about the organisations that support you throughout AGPT.
Choose your RTO
Application resources
Check out our resources that can help make the application process a bit smoother.
Browse resources
Training in rural and remote areas
Explore the opportunities that are available in regional Australia.
Consider rural
Frequently asked questions
Browse our collection of frequently asked questions.
View FAQs
Stories from the frontline
Explore the opportunities that are available in regional Australia.
Meet GP Registrars
Training placement locations
Find out where there are still places
available next year.
View map
GPs in Training Faculty
Connect with like-minded colleagues who can support you on your training journey.
Visit the faculty
Are you eligible to apply?
You do not need general medical registration to apply
One of the eligibility criteria for the AGPT Program is that you need to hold, or expect to hold, general medical registration by the time you start training. COVID-19 has caused disruptions for some doctors obtaining their registration, so to accommodate any delays, we will be offering two commencement periods next year - January/February and July/August 2021.
If you currently hold provisional or limited registration, you are still encouraged to apply for this final intake. However, any training offers made will be conditional upon you receiving general registration before the commencement of training. If general registration is not received, your training place offer may be withdrawn.
Download our Eligibilty guide and Selection guide to find out if you are in a position to apply for this intake and if so, what you need to do to get started.
Eligibility guide Selection guide
