Additional skills for stronger communities

The Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP)
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About the Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP)

The Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP) is awarded in addition to the vocational Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP). It aims to develop additional rural skills and broaden options for safe, accessible and comprehensive care for Australia’s rural, remote and very remote communities. 

You have four years to complete the requirements and achieve dual RACGP fellowship (FRACGP, FARGP). The FARGP is a recognised end-point for rural generalist training on state and territory rural generalist programs and under the AGPT Rural Generalist (AGPT RG) Policy.  

Extend your scope of practice and make a difference

Rural GPs deliver primary care services, emergency medicine and additional skills like obstetrics, anaesthetics and mental health services to provide access to a broader range of specialist medical care in their communities. 

The FARGP recognises the extra requirements and skills of rural GPs and supports you to meet the diverse health needs of rural and remote communities. 

Training includes: 

  • 12-month hospital terms (can be postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) or above) 
  • 18-month GP community-based terms (general practice terms GPT1, GPT2, GPT3) 
  • six-month extended skills term in either a hospital, community GP or community non-GP setting 
  • six-month core emergency medicine module (can be completed in the extended skills term) 
  • 12 months’ Additional Rural Skills Training (ARST) undertaken any time after the hospital year in a range of disciplines. 

Registrars training under the AGPT RG policy may also add an additional 12 months of ARST. You can choose to opt in or out of this policy at any time during training without penalty. 

A Fellowship for the future

We’re updating the FARGP to strengthen our rural training program and it will be replaced by a four-year, standalone Rural Generalist Fellowship offering robust, modern curricula and further training in emergency care. 

Key developments will be incorporated into the FARGP from 2022 and candidates will be offered the opportunity to transition to the RACGP’s Rural Generalist Fellowship when it is launched. 

FARGP training requirements From-2022 Pre-2022
Rural GP terms 12 months full time equivalent (FTE) of general practice terms in a rural (MMM3-7) setting 12 months full time equivalent (FTE) of general practice terms in a rural (MMM3-7) setting
Additional Rural Skills Training (ARST) 12 months FTE of skills training in an accredited training post
All candidates who enrol in the FARGP from 2022 onwards must undertake one of the revised ARST curriculums		 12 months FTE of skills training in an accredited training post
Candidates who enrolled in the FARGP prior to 2022 can choose an ARST and undertake either the old or revised curriculum
Emergency medicine Core-emergency medicine training including 6 months FTE of training in an accredited emergency medicine facility with appropriate supervision Completion of 2 emergency skills courses, online case studies and skills self-assessment
Learning plan and reflection Online skills self-assessment, reflection and learning activities Online skills self-assessment, reflection and learning activities
Community project Optional activity unless required by ARST curriculum (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health) Optional activity unless required by ARST curriculum (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health)

From-2022

Additional Rural Skills Training            

Access ARST options and curriculums

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Pre-2022

Additional Rural Skills Training            
Access ARST options and curriculums

Find out more 

Core emergency medicine training

Emergency medicine training requirements

 

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Practising GPs

Find out about recognition of prior learning
 

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Community project
Find out more about the community project

Find out more 

Why choose the RACGP:

  • A balanced focus – Gain experience in hospital and community-based care settings so you’re well equipped to work across both 
  • Flexibility – If your situation changes, you can opt in or out of the FARGP, or rural generalist training later without penalty 
  • Support – Connect with colleagues across the country and access a network of support by joining the college that represents four out of five rural GPs
  • Stronger pathways – Further develop your emergency medicine skills with a brand new training module and updated ARST curricula from 2022 
  • Broaden your horizons beyond training – After Fellowship, you can choose to work in private practice, hospitals, the Royal Flying Doctor service, Australian Defence Force, retrieval medicine, Aboriginal Medical Services or even overseas in places like Antarctica 
  • Experience – The RACGP is the largest representative of rural GPs in Australia, with more than 21,000 members and almost 10,000 GPs living and working in rural areas; we’ve been training rural GPs for over 60 years.  

Registrars

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Practising GPs

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Enquiries

For further details please contact the Rural team on:
1800 636 764
fargp@racgp.org.au