Loading this specialty…
FPM / RACP
When Pain Medicine applications run, and what the round looks like.
High
How Pain Medicine training is structured.
1 year
Competencies
To complete
1 year
Competencies
To complete
Foundations Multiple Choice Question Examination
Three hours, 150 questions, pitched at halfway through core training. A pass is required within 24 full-time-equivalent months of starting, and failing that means withdrawal from the program. Passing the written section of the Fellowship Examination before 2026 exempts you.
Sit 3 to 9 months after starting
Local long case
One hour with a patient in front of two assessors, 20 minutes alone to prepare, then a 30 minute viva. History, physical examination, case presentation and management plan carry equal marks. Bring your own stethoscope.
Either stage
External long case
The same format. One local and one external both have to be passed.
Either stage
Fellowship Examination
Oral, held once a year, eight stations in two rounds: four structured vivas of 15 minutes and four objective structured clinical examination stations of 10 minutes. Five attempts at most. Two in-training assessments with the most recent satisfactory, and the Foundations examination passed, are needed to sit.
After 6 months of core training
Queensland
One set of categories across every specialty, so two can be compared. Only those with criteria recorded for this specialty are shown.
Exams, qualifications, courses, and teaching
Application, interview, and registration costs
Registration mechanics and logistics not covered above
Timed steps, grouped by when each one is worth doing.
Before applying
Before core training
First 6 months
First year
Selection and workforce history, transcribed as published.
438
Fellows in Australia
At 31 December 2025
A small subspecialty practised alongside another specialty, with 438 Fellows on the register at the end of 2025.
How many Fellows of this specialty were on the register in each state at 31 December 2025. This is workforce size, not intake — a large number here does not mean a large number of training places.
| Jurisdiction | Fellows |
|---|---|
| Australian Capital Territory | 6 |
| New South Wales | 136 |
| Northern Territory |
Queensland Health is the only state department publishing these figures so far.
6 / 12Eligible applicants selected, 2024 first-year entry
An individual Queensland Health facility accredited for training
Allocated by an individual Queensland Health facility accredited for training — there is no centralised Queensland pathway
Trainees complete two mandatory stages of approved clinical experience — core training and practice development
Only one new Queensland fellow was recorded in the published year, against 19 trainees in the state
Changes published by FPM / RACP.
The employing health service appoints trainees rather than the faculty. An overseas primary qualification needs a comparability letter, and the five-year completion limit is a national rule rather than a Queensland one.
15 posts across 15 hospitals in Australia. Each circle counts hospitals.
Show these kinds of site
Select a region to see the hospitals inside it.
Hospital locations © OpenStreetMap contributors. State boundaries from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Published by FPM / RACP and the Medical Board unless stated.
Requirements, windows, and criteria change annually. Verify with FPM / RACP before making career decisions. Report an error on this page.
| Queensland | 86 |
|---|
| South Australia | 38 |
|---|
| Tasmania | 9 |
|---|
| Victoria | 111 |
|---|
| Western Australia | 52 |
|---|
| Australia, total | 438 |
|---|
Source: Australian Government Department of Health. Medical Education and Training (2025), Chapter 4: Fellows — College Fellows by state, as at 31 December 2025. Figures are transcribed as published.
Queensland Health, medi-nav, 31 July 2026. Selection numbers are for first-year entry and vary year to year.