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FPM / RACP
When Pain Medicine applications run, and what the round looks like.
High
Training positions and workforce figures below are limited to Australian Capital Territory. Selection criteria, requirements and application dates are set by FPM / RACP nationally and apply in every state.
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
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 (your selected state) | 6 |
| New South Wales | 136 |
| Northern Territory |
Queensland Health is the only state department publishing these figures so far.
No published figures exist yet for Australian Capital Territory. This is being worked on. The selection criteria and requirements above apply Australia wide regardless of state. See the Queensland figures.
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.
1 post across 1 hospital in Australian Capital Territory. Each circle counts hospitals.
Show these kinds of site
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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 |
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| Western Australia | 52 |
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| 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.