General Surgery

Terms

10

Six-month rotations, two a year, each in one accredited hospital post your regional training committee allocates

Time limit

8 years

To finish every requirement, from the start of the program

Leave

6 weeks

At most in each 6-month term, all kinds counted together

Part time

50%

Of full time at least, approved in blocks of 12 months

• A term is one rotation in one accredited post, where you take part fully in its on-call roster. It counts toward the 10 only when rated as meeting performance expectation
• The 6 weeks covers annual, personal, medical, compassionate, parental, study, exam, conference and carer's leave together. Your employer approves the leave itself
• More leave can mean the term does not count and training extends by 6 months, unless your supervisors could still assess you and you met the term's logbook, operating and assessment minimums
• The 8 years do not count approved medical, parental or carer interruption

• Accredited posts430 in 130 hospitals, 429 of them in 129 hospitals in Australia and one at Frimley Park Hospital in England. Albury Wodonga Health's 3 are in two states' counts and are counted once here
• What a post isEach post is accredited for one area of general surgery, such as colorectal, breast and endocrine or an acute surgical unit, for up to 5 years, as a full-time or a flexible post
• Your employerThe hospital employs you. Your regional training committee recommends you for the post, and the hospital can refuse to employ you
• Posts in the territory10 of the accredited posts are in the Australian Capital Territory, at Canberra Hospital and North Canberra Hospital

What every accredited general surgery post must give you each week

Theatre sessions

3

Elective operating sessions a week at least

Clinics

1

Supervised clinic a week at least, with new and follow-up patients

Ward rounds

2

Consultant ward rounds a week, with daily rounds of your patients after surgery

• Rosters: at most two weeks on a night roster in each 6-month term

Hospital surgical supervisor

1

In each hospital with trainees, a Fellow of RACSRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons the Board approves

Trainers

2

General surgery consultants on each accredited unit, at least

Surgical Education and Assessment ModulesEight online modules: the acute abdomen, anatomy, haematology, nutrition, the operating theatre, perioperative care, postoperative care, and trauma and critical care

8

Online modules, each passed with 80% in a 20-question test

Fellowship ExaminationThe Royal Australasian College of Surgeons' final examination in general surgery, two written papers and then five clinical and viva segments

From GSET 3

The final examination, set at the standard of a consultant in the first year of independent practice

Core entrustable professional activitiesA task of the job, such as leading a ward round, that a consultant signs off once they trust you to do it with distant supervision.

45

Nine activities, each signed off 5 times, by the end of GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 3

Core procedure-based activitiesAn operation, such as an appendicectomy, that a consultant signs off once you can do it with minimal supervision.

37

Eight operations, each signed off 3 to 6 times, by the end of GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 3

Principal entrustable professional activitiesA task of the job, such as leading a ward round, that a consultant signs off once they trust you to do it with distant supervision.

30

Six activities, each signed off 5 times, by the end of GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 5

Principal procedure-based activitiesAn operation, such as an appendicectomy, that a consultant signs off once you can do it with minimal supervision.

28

Nine operations, each signed off 2 to 4 times, by the end of GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 5

Points each term

400

Expected in each 6-month term, from the cases your consultants approve

By the end of GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 3

2,400

Points, needed to start GSETGeneral Surgery Education and Training, the general surgery training program in Australia. GSET 1 is its first year. 4 and to sit the Fellowship Examination

Before Fellowship

4,000

Points, with 200 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies and 100 colonoscopies

• You are the primary operator when the consultant is in theatre or scrubbed, or available, or when you are teaching a junior. Cases you assist in earn points but do not count toward the rate

Research points

300

Needed before Fellowship, earned across five categories

• A masters, MD or PhD with a research component earns all 300 alone. Otherwise most points come from general surgery projects you work on during training
• A project scores only once it is published or presented orally at a national or international meeting. Case reports, case series and posters score nothing

Skills courses

4

ASSETAustralian and New Zealand Surgical Skills Education and Training, the RACS two-day basic surgical skills course, with ten eLearning modules before it., Care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient, Early Management of Severe Trauma and Training in Professional Skills

Trainees' Days

4

General Surgeons Australia teaching days, attended before Fellowship, at least two in person

• A Trainees' Day is a day of teaching on one area of the general surgery curriculum, such as colorectal surgery. There are two a year: a virtual day in May and an in-person day with the General Surgeons Australia annual scientific meeting in October