Area of need pathway

Areas of Need (AONs) are declared by the States and Territories. The Area of Need pathway is for doctors who are not eligible for full (general) medical registration under the Standard pathway. It also gives overseas trained doctors (OTDs) who may be required to meet further training or other requirements for full medical registration or general practitioner recognition in Australia an opportunity to fulfil these requirements.

This pathway enables an OTD to obtain conditional medical registration to work in an AON position while completing the Australian Medical Council’s (AMC’s) examination and period of supervised clinical training or while pursuing Fellowship of either the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM) for recognition as a general practitioner (GP/family physician).

OTDs with general practice qualifications and experience may follow either the training route or the practice eligible route to achieving FRACGP or FACRRM. OTDs without GP qualifications and experience may wish to undertake the Australian General Practice Training Program to achieve FRACGP. For both of these options, a doctor must have evidence of current medical registration; financial membership of the RACGP; and basic cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training completed in the last 12 month period.

The training route is administered by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and requires successful completion of 8 active units of training in order to qualify to sit for the FRACGP examination.

OTDs on the practice eligible route must have:

• 4 years full-time approved general practice experience (or the part-time equivalent)---and one of these years MUST be gained in Australian general practice. The RACGP will assess your experience prior to allowing enrolment for the examination (or at the same time as enrolling for Australian based experience); OR
• one of the recognised qualifications detailed on the RACGP website. With these qualifications and successful completion of the College examination, OTDs are eligible for admission to Fellowship without further training or time requirements.

There are a number of courses designed to assist in preparing for the AMC or FRACGP examinations. You can find more information about these under the Bridging courses section of DoctorConnect, and the RACGP and Rural Workforce Agencies’ websites. You may also like to review the resources listed in the Training and education section of DoctorConnect.

Sources of employment for AON positions can be found in the Finding a job section. There are a number of programs and incentive schemes for permanent resident OTDs that are outlined under Approved workforce programs and General practitioner sections.