About the RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship (FRACGP-RG) training
GPs are an integral part of rural communities, and the skills they practise depend on the context in which they work and the specific needs of their communities. The term ‘rural generalist’ describes a rural GP who is working to an extended scope of practice with skill sets informed by the needs of the community they serve. Their skills encompass comprehensive general practice and emergency care and required components of other non-GP specialist care in hospital and community settings. Rural generalist medicine is a well-established model of care practised by many GPs in rural and remote areas across Australia.
“A Rural Generalist (RG) is a medical practitioner who is trained to meet the specific current and future health care needs of Australian rural and remote communities, in a sustainable and cost-effective way, by providing both comprehensive general practice and emergency care, and required components of other medical specialist care in hospital and community settings as part of a rural healthcare team”
Collingrove Agreement, February 2018
Rural Generalist Fellowship
The RACGP’s Rural Generalist Fellowship qualification is a recognised end point for rural generalist training by state and territory rural generalist programs.
The Rural Generalist Fellowship is awarded in addition to the vocational Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP). It supports developing additional rural skills to broaden local options for safe, accessible and comprehensive care for Australia’s rural, remote and very remote communities.
The Rural Generalist Fellowship gives you the opportunity to develop more emergency medicine skills and procedural or non-procedural skills in the following areas:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
- Academic post
- Adult internal medicine
- Anaesthesia
- Child health
- Emergency medicine
- Mental health
- Obstetrics
- Palliative care
- Surgery
Other additional skills may be considered on application to the RACGP Rural censor as part of an individually designed program.
The combination of both RACGP fellowships (FRACGP, FRACGP-RG) is a four-year (FTE) training program, with up to an additional two years available for leave and extensions for training where applicable.
Pre-requisites
- Member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)
- Working towards Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or a current Fellow of RACGP (for practising GPs).
- Must be enrolled with an RACGP approved training program if training towards FRACGP.
Registrars must choose to train towards FRACGP combined with RACGP's Rural Generalist Fellowship. You can opt in to train as a rural generalist at any stage of your training. You can also opt out of the Rural Generalist Fellowship if your situation changes down the track.
Practising GPs may choose to train towards the Rural Generalist Fellowship after completing their FRACGP. You will need to apply for the RACGP’s Rural Generalist Fellowship.
The Rural Generalist Fellowship offers the greatest benefits when completed over the full period of the training program, with an integrated training plan, well before you start preparing for your Fellowship exams.
Overview of training requirements
To be admitted to the Rural Generalist Fellowship, you must have successfully completed:
- 12 months (FTE) hospital training
- 18 months (FTE) general practice training, of which 12 months is in a rural general practice setting (MMM3–7)
- 12 months (FTE) of additional rural skills training (ARST) in a RACGP accredited training post
- six months (FTE) of core emergency medicine training (core EMT).
Registrars must choose to train towards FRACGP combined with RACGP's Rural Generalist Fellowship. You can opt in to train as a rural generalist at any stage of your training. You can also opt out of the Rural Generalist Fellowship if your situation changes down the track.
Practising GPs may choose to train towards the Rural Generalist Fellowship after completing their FRACGP. You will need to apply for the RACGP’s Rural Generalist Fellowship.