FAQ Limited registration for area of need

The Board will assess your experience when you submit your application for limited registration for area of need, unless you have already had your experience assessed by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) for another reason (e.g. as part of an assessment for the RACGP GPE pathway or GPE (PEP) pathway). You will need to provide evidence of your college assessment that confirms that you have had three or more years (full-time equivalent) experience in general practice or primary care.

Yes. Where the college assessment does not confirm your experience in general practice or primary care, the Board will assess your experience as part of your application for registration.

No. Although applicants in the standard pathway may submit their application for registration without a PESCI (see ‘When should I arrange a PESCI?’ below), you must submit all the other necessary information and documents as required in the application form for limited registration for area of need or your application will be considered incomplete and may be withdrawn. If your application is withdrawn, your registration fee will be refunded. The application fee is non-refundable.

If you are renewing registration to continue to work in a current general practice position, the requirement for experience does not apply to you. However, all applicants for renewal of registration are subject to the Board’s mandatory registration standards such as the registration standards for recency of practice, continuing professional development, professional indemnity insurance and criminal history.

Yes. If you are renewing limited registration for area of need and are also applying to change your circumstances to work in general practice for the first time in Australia the requirement does apply.

Yes, the requirements of the Board’s revised registration for limited registration for area of need apply to new applications for registration.

The requirements of the Board’s revised registration standard for limited registration for area of need only apply to applications for this type of registration received on or from 1 July 2016. However, all applicants for registration are subject to the Board’s mandatory registration standards such as the registration standard for recency of practice.

The Board takes a range of factors into consideration when deciding whether an applicant for registration is suitable to work in a specific general practice position including the recommendations of a PESCI panel, the applicant’s qualifications, experience, recency of practice, and proposed supervision arrangements. The Board decides each application on its individual merits.

This will depend on the outcome of the RACGP’s assessment of your experience. If the RACGP has assessed that you have had three or more years (full-time equivalent) experience in general practice or primary care, the Board will accept the college’s assessment and you will not require further assessment of your experience by the Board. You will need to provide the Board with evidence of the RACGP’s assessment with your application for registration.

If you have had your experience in general practice or primary care formally assessed by the RACGP or ACRRM for another reason, you will not require further assessment of your experience by the Board. However, you will need to provide with your application for registration evidence from the college that you have three or more years (full-time equivalent) experience in general practice or primary care.

The revised registration standard for limited registration for area of need requires applicants seeking to work in general practice to have three years experience in general practice or primary care. However, your country may not refer to it as ‘general practice or primary care’. If you are not sure if your practice experience is considered to be equivalent to ‘general practice or primary care’ you may apply for registration and your application and experience will be assessed.

No. The Board has developed guidance on clinical observerships and has confirmed that experience in a clinical observer role is not considered evidence of recent practice as a medical practitioner for the purposes of its registration standard for recency of practice.

In most cases, applicants who are required to undertake a PESCI should arrange a PESCI before applying for registration. This will streamline the registration process and ensures the Board has all the necessary information to make a decision in a timely manner about whether to grant you registration. If the Board does not have all the information required to assess your application, your application may be withdrawn.

However, applicants who are applying for limited registration for area of need to work in general practice are required to have three years (full-time equivalent) experience working in general practice or primary care. The Board is recommending that applicants in the standard pathway applying for this type of registration to work in general practice apply for registration before arranging a PESCI. The Board is keen to ensure that applicants do not pay for a PESCI if they do not have the required experience.

Ultimately it is up to applicants applying for limited registration for area of need to decide whether to arrange a PESCI before applying for registration, noting that if they do not meet the Board’s requirement for experience they will not be eligible for registration to work in general practice. If you are assessed as having the required experience, you will then need to arrange a PESCI.

It is unlikely that you will be eligible for registration to work in general practice. The Board will assess each application for registration on a case by case basis against the applicable standards for registration that are in effect at the time of your application. If you are not eligible for registration to work in general practice, you may be eligible to apply for registration to work in a non-specialist hospital position.

Yes. The PESCI is a requirement for applicants applying for registration via the standard pathway to work in general practice. The PESCI is an evaluation of suitability for a particular position.

No. A PESCI is specific to the position. If you are required to undertake a PESCI, the PESCI must be for the specific position you are proposing to work in.