Paediatric Surgery

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Competition

Very high

Qualification

FRACS (Paediatric Surgery)

Training duration

A 6-year SET program (Early SET 2 years, then Mid and Senior SET 4 years), competency-based, with a maximum of 10 years to complete. Total time from graduation is not published, since entry is experience-gated rather than year-gated.

Applications

A single national round run by RACS (bi-national — Australia and New Zealand combined) through its Committee of Paediatric Surgery. Recurring pattern: RACS registration 6–30 January → paediatric surgery application mid-February to mid-March → referee reports late April to mid-May → a face-to-face multiple mini-interview in June → first-round offers by late July, final offers by early November. Check surgeons.org for the current round.

Selection format

RACS publishes an exact but unusual scoring structure: the structured CV is a pass/fail GATE (scored out of 56, minimum 33 to proceed) and does NOT count toward the final rank. The final Total Selection Score is 75% from a multiple mini-interview (panels of two assessors; minimum 80% to be deemed suitable) and 25% from referee reports (minimum 80%, which also rank you for interview). Interview shortlisting runs at 4 applicants per available training post.

When to apply

Entry is experience-gated rather than PGY-gated. By the cut-off you need general (unconditional) registration, a GSSE pass, at least a 10-week full-time attachment in a paediatric surgical unit, and at least 12 months of registrar-level general surgery. In practice this means several years of prevocational and unaccredited surgical experience; RACS does not publish a typical PGY figure.

Competition

A very small, bi-national program — RACS past-offer numbers run from 2 to 7 trainees a year across Australia and New Zealand combined (3, 2, 4, 4, 6, 7 over the last six intakes). With an 80% pass bar at both the referee and interview stages and a 4:1 interview-to-post shortlist, it is one of the most competitive surgical pathways.

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Selection criteria

Clinical experience

Rotations, logbooks, procedures, and exposure

Paediatric surgical experience — a minimum 10-week full-time attachment in an Australian or New Zealand paediatric surgical unit by the eligibility cut-off
General surgical experience — at least 12 months (52 weeks) of supervised postgraduate registrar-level surgery in Australia or New Zealand
Procedural skills form — every listed procedure and capability must be signed off by a supervising surgical consultant and submitted by the closing date, or the application is deemed unsuitable

Rural & regional

Rural, regional, and remote experience

Nothing captured yet — verify with RACS.

First Nations

Selection points and pathways for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Māori applicants

First Nations — Paediatric Surgery participates in the RACS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander selection initiative; 1 post was expected to be reserved for the 2027 intake for eligible applicants

Academic

Exams, qualifications, courses, and teaching

GSSE — pass the Generic Surgical Sciences Examination by the close of applications

Publications & research

Papers, impact factor, audits, and QI

Research — publications and presentations are scored on your best two within the last 5 years; a PhD alone is worth 9 of the 12 qualification points

Extracurricular

Leadership and roles beyond clinical work

Nothing captured yet — verify with RACS.

Distinction

Prizes, awards, and academic standing

Nothing captured yet — verify with RACS.

Eligibility & application

Prerequisites, referees, interviews, and fees

Eligibility — Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency; general (unconditional) AHPRA or MCNZ registration; and completion of the RACS Introduction to Operating with Respect course
Structured CV — a pass/fail GATE scored out of 56 (minimum 33): surgical and medical experience 27, qualifications 12, publications and presentations 8, skills courses 3, rurality 3, Indigeneity 3; it does NOT count toward the final rank
Referee reports — at least 3 reports (one from a paediatric surgical consultant), minimum 80%; they rank you for interview and are 25% of the final selection score
Multiple mini-interview — minimum 80% to be deemed suitable; the interview is 75% of the final selection score, the highest-weighted component
Fees and attempts — RACS registration AUD $655 plus a $920 paediatric surgery selection fee; a maximum of 3 attempts applies only if you are ever deemed unsuitable

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Entry tips

01Treat every rotation and reference as high-stakes — only a handful of posts exist nationally each year (2 to 7 trainees across Australia and New Zealand combined).

02Cultivate paediatric surgical consultants long-term — referee reports rank you for interview, so genuine working relationships matter more than an end-of-term signature.

03Aim for quality and recency in research — publications and presentations are scored on your best two within the last 5 years, so recency beats volume.

04Consider the research pathway early — a PhD alone is worth 9 of the 12 qualification CV points, and it stacks fast.

05Go in eyes-open about unaccredited time — paediatric surgery registrar posts can be a long, uncapped holding pattern, so plan an exit point or a parallel path.

06Document rural and Indigenous attachments carefully — rurality and Indigeneity each add up to 3 CV points, but they are scored on evidence, not claims.

07Invest in referees and interview over the CV — the CV is only a 33-of-56 gate and carries no weight in the final rank, which is 75% interview and 25% referees.

Sourced from Australian medical community discussion. Always verify with RACS.

Recent updates

2026-07

First-round offers for the current (2027 intake) round are due by 24 July 2026.

2026-01

The current Selection Regulations took effect (Version 1, approved 24 November 2025): the CV is a 33-of-56 pass/fail gate, referee reports need 80% (25% of the final score), and the multiple mini-interview needs 80% (75% of the final score), with a 4:1 interview shortlist.

2025-11

Advance notice: from the 2028 intake, presentations at a scientific meeting will score 2 points instead of 3 in the CV publications and presentations component.

Indicative only. Check the RACS website for current information.

Official resources

RACS Paediatric Surgery (SET)

Application dates, the selection regulations and CV scoresheet, and past-offer history

RACS Generic Eligibility for Selection

RACS-wide prerequisites — registration, citizenship, Operating with Respect

RACS GSSE Eligibility

Who can sit the Generic Surgical Sciences Examination and when

ANZAPS — Selection to SET

The society that administers training as an agent of RACS (selection itself is run by RACS)

Medical Board — Specialist Registration

MBA specialist registration pathways

State workforce data

QLD NSW VIC WA SA TAS ACT NT

Queensland Health’s medi-nav is the only state health department currently publishing the workforce and selection figures this section shows. We have not verified equivalent data for Tasmania yet — the selection criteria and requirements above apply Australia-wide regardless of state. See the Queensland figures.

Community discussions

Recent discussion about Paediatric Surgery training from Australian doctors.

Search r/ausdocs and r/doctorsofaustralia

Requirements, windows, and criteria change annually. Verify with Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) before making career decisions. Report an error on this page.