Recognition of Extended Skills

in Migrant, refugee and asylum seeker health for Fellows of the RACGP

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The RACGP > Faculties > RACGP Specific Interests > Recognition of Extended Skills > RES-FRACGP Migrant, refugee and asylum seeker health

Introduction and overview

General practitioners (GPs) play a critical role in caring for people from migrant, refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds. While only some GPs work predominantly in dedicated refugee health or humanitarian settlement services, all GPs will encounter patients who have experienced forced displacement, migration stressors or barriers to healthcare access.

People from migrant and refugee backgrounds often present with complex and interrelated medical, psychological and social needs, shaped by:

  • pre‑departure experiences, conflict or persecution
  • trauma, loss and disrupted health care
  • settlement stress, housing instability or financial hardship
  • unfamiliarity with the Australian health system
  • language barriers and limited Medicare eligibility for some groups

GPs have a unique opportunity to provide trauma‑informed, culturally responsive, continuous and equitable care, significantly improving health and wellbeing for marginalised individuals and communities.

Recognition of Extended Skills for Fellows of the RACGP in Migrant, refugee and asylum seeker health is for GPs who:

  • have substantial experience working with migrant, refugee and asylum seeker communities
  • provide trauma‑informed, culturally safe and patient‑centred care
  • understand the impact of forced displacement, migration and resettlement on health
  • apply evidence‑based refugee health screening, assessment and follow‑up protocols
  • work effectively with interpreters and cross‑cultural communication strategies
  • navigate Medicare access and healthcare system barriers for people on temporary or uncertain visas
  • collaborate with settlement services, community organisations and multidisciplinary teams
  • advocate for equitable access to care and improved health outcomes
  • recognise and manage complex presentations including chronic disease, mental health conditions, infectious diseases, and social determinants of health
  • understand medico‑legal considerations, including consent, confidentiality, and documentation in the context of migration journeys

In your application you will need to provide:

  • a summary of your work history
  • qualifications or educational activities with copies of certificates, diplomas, degrees etc
  • a reviewing performance activity within the current triennium
  • a measuring outcomes activity within the current triennium
  • a response to a short answer question/s
  • three case studies.

Please log your reviewing performance and measuring outcomes via your myCPD dashboard. You can choose to do any activity that you think relates to the extended skills outcomes

Document your participation in any one of the following and how it relates to the achievement of the extended skills outcomes:

  • Peer group learning
  • Evidence-based medicine journal club
  • Random case analysis
  • Clinical supervision
  • Clinical meetings
  • Other (for example: describe how you keep up to date with new research and reflect on the impact this has on your practice)

Audits

  1. Review the practice in your setting with your own or other institutional policies, eg:
    1. Management of infectious diseases in your custodial setting.
    2. Testing and incidence rates for blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections for people in custody.
    3. Harm minimisation practices in your custodial setting and how they compare with best practice eg safe injecting practices
    4. Metabolic testing for people on patients on anti-psychotic medications.
  2. Design your own context specific audit. Please use the CPD guidance document and template.

PDSA

  1. Design your own context specific PDSA using the CPD guidance document and template

Self-assessment checklist

You will complete a self-assessment checklist at the beginning of your application to rate your confidence against the extended skills outcomes.

If you choose to continue your application a fee will be payable.

If you have identified some gaps in your skills, you can discontinue the application process and come back in the future. We recommend you start a new application so that you can complete the self-assessment again.