The pathway to Fellowship

You'll need to study medicine at university first. There are some prerequisite subjects you need to study at high school (such as chemistry or maths) if you want to go straight into medicine after school, so consider these when choosing your senior year subjects.

Entry criteria differs for each university. Coming from high school, you'll normally need a strong ATAR, good results in the UCAT and an impressive performance in an interview.

With another degree under your belt, the application process will most likely involve your GPA, the GAMSAT and an interview with the university.

Medical degrees take 4-6 years to complete, depending on which university you choose and whether it's an undergraduate or graduate degree.

View a list of Australian universities that offer medical schools.

With another degree under your belt, the application process will most likely involve your GPA, the GAMSAT and an interview with the university.

Upon completion of medical school, you'll receive either a bachelor or masters degree. The Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) is the most common degree, but your university might offer a different degree such as the Doctor of Medicine.

After medical school, all junior doctors must complete a one year internship in a training hospital. During this year, you will rotate through different departments such as general surgery, pedatrics, emergency and obestetrics-gynecology.

After your first year of rounds, you can stay in the hospital system as a resident and continue your rotations.

You can apply for specialist GP training through the AGPT Program any time from your intern year onwards. Applications usually open in March each year and you'll need to meet the eligibility criteria to be able to apply.

Find out more about the application process

Once you've completed the minimum hospital training term and requirements, you're ready to start your GP terms in a general practice.

As soon as you're accepted into the AGPT Program, you're considered a registrar. Vocational training towards RACGP Fellowship (Rural Generalist Fellowship) is three years full-time (or part-time equivalent), comprising hospital training (12 months), general practice placements (18 months) and extended skills (six months).

Two years of your training will be spent under supervision in a general practice. Within that, six months can focus on extended skills training. As a registrar, you will be supported by a regional training organisation who will facilitate your studies and help you in pursuit of Fellowship.

If you're wanting to further develop your capabilities as a GP, there is also the option to complete an extra year of additional rural skills training and obtain the RACGP's Rural Generalist Fellowship. This training provides the opportunity to learn about the specific health needs of rural and remote communities, and develop additional emergency medicine skills and procedural/non-procedural skills to meet those needs.

Requirements include:

• 12 months full time equivalent (FTE) of general practice terms in a rural (MMM3-7) setting.
• 12 months FTE of skills training in an accredited training post with the Rural Generalist Fellowship curriculums.
• Core-emergency medicine training including 6 months FTE of training in an accredited emergency medicine facility with appropriate supervision.
• Online skills self-assessment, reflection and learning activities.
• Optional Community project activity unless required by ARST curriculum (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health).

The RACGP exams comprises three elements: the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT), the Key Feature Problem (KFP), and the Clinical Competency Exam (CCE). You'll sit the AKT and KFP during your training and then attempt the CCE at the end of your training.

Once you've completed your training and passed your exams, you can apply for Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP).

If you've completed the Rural Generalist Fellowship training requirements, you will be able to apply for both the Fellowship of the RACGP and the Rural Generalist Fellowship once you've passed your exams.

As a Fellow of the RACGP, a GP can work unsupervised anywhere in Australia.