Advanced Skills training
All Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) program registrars pursuing a Fellowship with the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM), or the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ Rural Generalist Fellowship (FRACGP-RG), must undertake training in an advanced skill at some stage during their training.
Known as Advanced Specialised Training (AST) for ACRRM and Advanced Rural Skills Training (ARST) for FRARGP-RG, these training posts are generally a 52-week full-time term. Dual fellowship pathway registrars will undertake a single 52-week term that will count towards both fellowships.
Advanced Specialised Training (AST) with ACCRM and Advanced Rural Skills Training (ARST) with FRACGP-RG
Advanced Specialised Training (AST) is a compulsory requirement for registrars training on the ACRRM pathway. AST positions for the following training year are advertised to registrars who may then apply for a position in their preferred discipline.
Advanced Rural Skills Training (ARST) is a compulsory requirement for registrars enrolled in FRACGP-RG. FRACGP-RG is an opportunity for registrars to undertake an additional year of training in a skill pertinent to general practice in a non-urban setting. The ARST year is ideally started once registrars have completed their RACGP exams. ARST positions for the following training year are advertised to registrars who may then apply for a position in their preferred discipline.
AST/ARST areas
Explore the wide range of AST/ARST areas are available.
An AST in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health provides the registrar with a broader and deeper range of knowledge and skills in areas such as cross cultural communication, public health, infectious disease and environmental health whilst caring and working in rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
An ARST in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health enhances registrar knowledge, skills and understanding so that they can work appropriately and effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the context of their culture, family and community.
Find out more:
An AST in Academic Practice is coordinated through fellowship college, providing registrars with the skills and training to improve research capacity, standards of clinical care, population health, and address the specific health needs of vulnerable communities in rural and remote Australia.
An ARST in Academic Practice is coordinated through RACGP fellowship college, providing registrars with the skills and training in primary health care research and medical education.
Find out more:
Rural and remote GPs are often required to diagnose and manage an extended range of adult internal medical conditions with a greater degree of independence compared to their urban counterparts.
An AST/ARST in Adult Internal Medicine provides registrars with extended clinical practice focusing on managing patients with acute complex medical and chronic disease problems including multiple morbidities and factors affected by ageing.
Find out more:
An AST/ARST in Anaesthetics provides critical care and anaesthetics for registrars working in communities providing services to level 3 hospitals and supporting birthing services.
Find out more:
An AST or ARST in Mental Health provides the registrar with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to effectively care for patients with a range of mental health issues in environments where face-to-face support from other professionals is often limited.
Find out more:
An AST/ARST in Obstetrics and Gynaecology extends the skills of medical practitioners to develop them to a level that will enable them to safely undertake complex deliveries and perform more advanced gynaecological procedures and neonatal resuscitation to support a birthing unit in level 3 hospital facilities in rural remote regions.
Find out more:
Paediatrics is a particular priority due to the frequency of presentations of paediatric patients to general practitioners in both rural and remote settings and in urban general practice. An AST or ARST in Paediatrics will provide the registrar with skills and confidence to provide acute and preventive care for children in Rural Remote setting including management of the critically ill child.
Find out more:
There is an imperative for delivery of population health services in rural and remote areas to address inherent health inequalities.
Registrars who do an AST in Population Health have an opportunity to improve the health of whole communities through population health approaches and are more likely to provide front-line population health services with greater autonomy and fewer resources.
Find out more:
The geographic, demographic, social and cultural nature of remote Australia and its inhabitants bring a range of unique challenges to the practice of remote medicine.
An AST in Remote Medicine aims to provide remote populations with appropriately trained, safe and competent general practitioners who have an interest in sustaining a working life in these environments.
There is an absence of specialist surgical services in rural and remote areas.
An AST in Surgery will provide generalist registrars training with an appropriate scope of practice required to provide general surgical skills in a range common surgical conditions likely to be encountered in most rural practice contexts taking into account the potential geographical locations and work situations of registrars during training and on completion of training and the needs arising from those locations. Along with the availability of surgical facilities and specialist support in most rural practice contexts.
An ARST in Surgery will provide the registrar with the knowledge, skills and experience that will enable a GP Surgical Proceduralist to safely provide unsupervised General Practice surgery.
Note: Training for this speciality is 24 months (2 years) in duration.
Find out more:
Other AST disciplines are available as approved by the College. Please visit the college websites for more information:
How to apply for an AST/ARST term
The application process to undertake an AST/ARST term varies depending on the discipline selected.
The Queensland Rural Generalist Pathway (QRGP) intake manages the following disciplines:
- Anaesthetics
- Internal Medicine
- Mental Health
- Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Paediatrics
QRGP AST/ARST hospital training posts in northern and regional Queensland:
- Anaesthetics - Cairns, Townsville, Mount Isa, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg
- Internal Medicine - Cairns, Townsville, Mount Isa, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Roma
- Mental Health - Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Bundaberg
- Obstetrics & Gynaecology - Cairns, Townsville, Mount Isa, Rockhampton, Mackay, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg
- Paediatrics - Townsville, Mount Isa, Mackay, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg
The Queensland Health RMO campaign manages the following disciplines:
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health
- Emergency Medicine
- Palliative Care
- Surgery
RMO AST/ARST hospital training posts in northern and regional Queensland:
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health - Mount Isa
- Emergency Medicine - Cairns, Townsville, Mount Isa, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Mackay, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg
- Palliative Care - Townsville
- Surgery - Rockhampton, Mackay, Bundaberg
Community-based disciplines are filled through the GP placement process - discuss your plans with your local Medical Educator as early as possible:
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health
- Academic Practice
- Population Health
- Remote Medicine
- Small Town Rural General Practice
AST/ARST community training posts in northern and regional Queensland
Community-based AST/ARST training posts are typically organised through annual GP placements process. Discipline options for community-based AST/ARSTs include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, Population Health, Remote Medicine, Academic Practice and Small Town Rural General Practice. Please note the following:
AST/ARST opportunities exist throughout the northern and regional Queensland region.
At these regions: Cape and Torres, Tablelands, Cairns, Townsville, North West Queensland, Central Queensland, Mackay, Wide Bay.
Academic Practice can be undertaken from any community practice location in the northern and regional Queensland region and has additional funding provided by RACGP and/or ACRRM. Please visit the relevant college website for more information on application deadlines.
Available through James Cook University in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay.
AST can be undertaken at any community practice location that is already accredited for ACRRM Core Generalist Training - PRRT terms.
In northern and regional Queensland, these regions include: Cape and Torres, North West Queensland, Central West Queensland, Central Queensland, Wide Bay and South West Queensland.
This AST is available in: Cape and Torres, North West Queensland and Central West Queensland.
If the location you are interested in does not appear above, please contact your local Medical Educator to discuss the possibility of obtaining the appropriate accreditation.
Registrars can register their interest in these posts by contacting their local training team.