Dave BellAccessing an excellent pool of motivated doctors via the RACGP Specialist Pathway
The RACGP PEP Specialist – Partially Comparable Pathway
Have you had exposure to GPs who are eligible for the RACGP Specialist Pathway (Partially Comparable) in your rural practice yet? We have had great success with this route providing very qualified and motivated candidates. We believe that this is a key avenue to rebuild the General Practice workforce, and we have set up internal processes to recruit and register these doctors enabling them to join your team.
The RACGP now recognises several Specialist Qualifications as being Partially Comparable , thus allowing them to access the PEP Specialist Pathway. RACGP has thoroughly vetted their training and experience, ensuring that these SIMG GPs, have suitable Family Medicine experience and qualifications. As a result, they don’t need to sit the AMC exam, a PESCI, or the suffocating Level 1 supervision.
In terms of the candidate’s requirement from the practice, the only difference between these Partially Comparable candidates and the Substantially Comparable (i.e. the NHS vocationally trained MRCGPs) is that this Partially Comparable group of candidates must work in MM2, and they must sit their exams to attain Fellowship.
Restrictions and Motivations to Go Rural
In recent years, the RACGP has assessed several international family medicine specialist qualifications as being comparable to FRACGP. This has opened opportunities for us to bring a wealth of experienced candidates to help with our GP shortage.
Effectively, candidates on this pathway hold these restrictions:
We have a dedicated internal registrations team who will take the doctors through the full process to make sure they don’t get lost in the AHPRA system, avoiding delays.
Quality of Candidate Training and Experience
We’ve worked extensively with these candidates over the past two years and have found them to be very capable Family Physicians who have at least similar years of experience to Australian GPs who have completed vocational training. As with any group of clinicians, some are more committed to core General Practice patients, while others have many years of experience and offer knowledge around sub-specialties including emergency, chronic disease, teaching, and leadership.
Motivated GPs, looking to commit to Rural Locations
Having worked with GP jobs in Australia since 2010, this is the single biggest positive change that we can imagine. Rather than competing with other practices, or other towns for a diminishing pool of VR GPs, and rather than the monetary and supervision cost of relocating hospital doctors for the MDRAP or FSP program, these doctors have been verified by the RACGP as being Comparable, and thereby suitable for the Specialist Pathway. We at Doctor Connect have worked hard to develop relationships with this group and we now have a pool of active and committed candidates.
GP Candidate’s Needs
The great news for the candidates is that they can consider a new opportunity to fulfill their dream of living in Australia that previously wasn’t available. They are typically people in the middle of their careers who are looking for a community to settle into with families. We meet with all our candidates and explain the basics of General Practice in Australia, including general discussion around contracts and income. We work with the doctors to ensure they have reasonable expectations of the move and emphasise that this can be a great opportunity, but that it may be important for them to be able to compromise at some point.
We work to ensure they have realistic expectations of the practice. These include understanding that some practices offer accommodation and sign-on bonus and that other practices do not. It is important to acknowledge that these doctors will incur costs when making this career change, spending at least $20,000 in registration processes with AHPRA, RACGP and immigration before paying for airfares. They may be coming from a health system where doctors are not as well paid. If your practice is able to give some financial assistance, then this will be much appreciated.
As with any group, they have some similar basic requirements while others have different requirements. They all need to be in an MM2-7 location and to have the support of a practice with a Fellowed GP who can offer Level 3 supervision (Level 3 supervision can be remote, the SIMG is responsible for the patient), for the first 1 – 2 years. Some GPs have family and cultural commitments so they may aim to be in a town of a certain size with a primary or high school, or to have access to community groups, or a specific place of worship.
Our Process
We will work with you to confirm the details of your:
We have many years of experience in rural and remote GP practice, and working with similar candidates, so have a good understanding of what will make this match successful.
2. Promote Opportunity
We will then promote the opportunity to our candidate pool, including to active candidates who we know to be suited.
3. Present Shortlist
You will be presented with a short-list of suitable candidates, and we will arrange for a face-to-face meeting.
4. Signed Contract
If the candidate is suitable, we will manage the offer and commitment. We will then arrange all the paperwork required. Our strong knowledge of this whole process will make sure that you are only contacted for the information that you need when it is required.
5. Invoice
We’re a traditional contingency recruitment company. Our introduction, registration, and support services come with a fee to the practice. This will be discussed with you and beforehand and our fee will only be the invoice invoiced when the doctor starts in your practice. There is an additional cost to be considered for the nomination for a visa with the Immigration Department. However, we are very confident that the costs to the practice will easily be recouped in the first 6 – 12 months of having an experienced GP join your team.
Moving Forward
We are working with doctors from this pool who are available to join your practice. This will play an important part in bringing balance to the Australian Rural GP workforce and equity in the provision of primary healthcare. We would welcome the opportunity to assist you in finding a doctor with the right skills, personality and commitment to be a part of your practice for many years to come. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this further.
A true partnership approach and sole point of contact dedicated to providing a tailored, permanent General Practitioner recruitment solution.
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