ACRRM wishes all members and supporters a safe, healthy and restful festive season with your friends and families. We take this opportunity to thank you for your part in delivering better health outcomes for rural, remote, and First Nations Communities.
It’s been a big year for the College with another strong showing of advocacy for members with more than 50 submissions and 10 position statements. A continued push for more training places so rural, remote and First Nations communities get the healthcare they need, and progress toward Rural Generalist Recognition plus more.
Click below to hear from ACRRM President Dr Rod Martin on the year that was.
The second and final stage assessment of the joint application for Rural Generalist Medicine (RGM) specialist recognition has concluded and found the case for recognition of RGM as a new field of specialty practice has been established.
This marks the completion of a comprehensive process that began in 2018 to assess the national interest case for recognition. The expert advice to national decision-makers will be that the case has been substantiated.
Over the past three months, the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Review Panel, tasked by the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) with assessing the joint application, finalised, its assessment report. This report, which supports the application as demonstrating a case for recognition, has been endorsed through the AMC’s governance processes.
The AMC will present the assessment report to the MBA this month, along with the advice that the proposal demonstrates there is a case for RGM to be recognised as a new field of specialty practice. The MBA will decide whether to recommend recognition of RGM to the Ministerial Council, and the Health Ministers would then be expected to make their determination in the first half of 2025.
The College looks forward to an exciting new year, in which we hope to be vigorously progressing the new opportunities to fully integrate the RG curriculum, programs and standards into registration and workforce planning and systems.
It is equally important to prioritise the safety of your family and property while maintaining your commitment to delivering exceptional healthcare to your community.
ACRRM provides a range of support services, including access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a dedicated wellbeing coordinator, and additional online resources.
ACRRM Fellowship – Apply with Confidence
There is still time to apply to begin training next year! Applications for 2025 ACRRM Fellowship close Monday 13 January. Unsure about the application and selection process? Here is some information to help you apply with confidence.
There are three steps which are all held online for your convenience:
1. Eligibility and online application 2. Written suitability assessment 3. Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) - held end of March 2025
We’re looking for doctors committed to rural and remote practice - be sure to address the ACRRM selection criteria throughout your application.
If you need support or have questions, our member engagement team are here to help! You can contact them on 1800 223 226 or selection@acrrm.org.au.
ACRRM is embarking on an exciting and important milestone—updating our College Constitution.
Over the past 25 years, and particularly since the transition to ACRRM-led training, our College has grown and evolved. It is now time for the governance framework to reflect this journey and position us for future success as leaders in rural, remote and First Nations healthcare.
The ACRRM Constitution was first published in 1997 and revised in 2014. Ten years on, we are undertaking a thorough review to ensure that ACRRM remains relevant, sustainable, and equipped to support our members and staff.
The review has been overseen by the Constitution Review Working Group, made up of ACRRM Board and Council members, and supported by the College’s legal advisors, Russell Kennedy.
The theme for the 2025 conference is "Rooted in Tradition, Growing with Innovation" and includes workshops, plenary sessions, case-based discussions, research presentations, and networking opportunities with international experts.
More information on abstract themes, sub-themes and how to submit can be found below.
ACRRM offices across the country will be closed from Midday on Tuesday 24 December until Thursday 2 January 2025.
The first edition of Country Watch in 2025 will be on 9 January.
Sponsored: Your insights are important to us!
Quit Centre wants to hear about your experiences with providing smoking and vaping cessation care.
The unique insights of rural medical practitioners are important to us, and we welcome participation and feedback from rural and remote general practitioners.
What are the practice issues you experience in providing smoking and/or vaping cessation care?And how can Quit Centre help meet your learning and professional development needs in this area?
The survey is anonymous and takes approximately 5 mins to complete.
Antarctic Medicine information session: Watch the recording
If you missed last Friday’s Antarctic Medicine Information Session with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), the recording is now available.
Hosted by the ACRRM Tasmanian team, the session featured Dr John Cherry, FACRRM, Dr Kate Kloza, FACRRM, and Dr Catherine Oermann, FRACGP-RG. It provided an engaging glimpse into the unique challenges and rewards of practicing medicine in Antarctica, highlighted by a live cross to Dr Kate Kloza currently stationed in Antarctica.
The session also covered the current opportunities with AAD, which is recruiting medical practitioners for the 2026–2027 seasons at Australia's four Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations. Find out more on the AAD website here.
caring@home develops and provides nationally consistent, practical and evidence-based clinical resources and education for health professionals.
Refreshed website caring@home is excited to announce that the refreshed website is now live!
Core medicines can assist Home Care Package Providers to facilitate timely symptom management In the latest Caresearch Palliative Perspectives blog, caring@home Director, Prof. Liz Reymond, discusses Home Care Package Providers and their suitability to deliver clinical services for a person who chooses to be looked after at home in the last weeks of life.
Better access to palliative care – worth voting for!
Update to Flexible Funding guidelines and application form
The ACRRM Flexible Funding Guidelines and application form have been updated.
These resources now provide more detail, clarity and examples of what can be applied for by AGPT registrars, training posts and supervisors.
Applications can be submitted at any time by submitting the Flexible Funds form to your regional team.
More information on guidelines and application forms can be found here.
Closing soon: RGA grandparenting opportunity
Apply before 31 December 2024
FACRRM with Joint Consultative Committee on Anaesthesia (JCCA) training and certification are encouraged to apply to be grandparented to the Advanced Certificate in Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (RGA) before 31 December 2024.
The RGA is a joint initiative of ACRRM, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), and meets the requirements of ACRRM’s Advanced Specialist Training in anaesthetics.
The new advanced certificate replaces the JCCA training and accreditation. While those with JCCA training and certification will continue to be recognised, the tripartite are encouraging Fellows to be grandfathered.
Information on the RGA recognition, including eligibility, can be found here.
Be interviewed by The Quit program of Cancer Council Victoria
The Quit program of Cancer Council Victoria has been provided with funding from the Commonwealth Government Department of Health and Aged Care to maintain Quit Centre (www.quitcentre.org.au) to develop and deliver, in partnership with professional peak bodies, a comprehensive suite of resources to upskill and support health professionals so that they can confidently provide smoking and vaping cessation care.
Quit has commissioned The George Institute for Global Health (TGI) to conduct a literature review on national and international best practice approaches to embedding smoking and vaping cessation care in the health system (primary, secondary, and tertiary settings). The next step is for TGI team (led by Professor Simone Pettigrew) to interview key informants in each of the settings to identify barriers and facilitators to embedding best practice approaches.
The College has been asked to participate and we are hoping to recruit a Fellow who could be interviewed by TGI regarding the factors associated with embedding a change in practice in primary care settings. The interview would be online through Microsoft Teams and is expected to take 30-45 minutes at a time convenient to the interviewee from mid-January to end of February 2025.
If you are interested in contributing, please email policy@acrrm.org.au by Monday 20 January 2025, including a current resume or an outline of any relevant qualifications or experience. This is a voluntary role. The College acknowledges the support of members who undertake this work on its behalf.
EOI: ANZCA SA/NT Regional Committee
Expressions of Interest (EOI) are open for representation from South Australian-based Rural Generalist Anaesthetists (RGAs) to be co-opted as a member to the ANZCA SA/NT Regional Committee, an elected body that acts as a conduit between fellows and trainees in the SA/NT regions and the ANZCA Council to which it reports.
ANZCA welcomes collaboration and input from an enthusiastic RGA on this committee for the period February 2025 – April 2026. The committee meets 4 times per annum both face- to-face and in hybrid format (via Zoom) for approximately 60-90 mins at the SA/NT ANZCA office at Sando House, 168 Ward St, North Adelaide.
ACRRM acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the custodians of the lands and waters where our members and staff work and live across Australia. We pay respect to their elders, lores, customs and Dreaming. We recognise these lands and waters have always been a place of teaching, learning, and healing.
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