RCPA Haematology Training in Australia: Entry Requirements

Prerequisites

Registration: general medical registration before specialist training starts
Clinical experience: at least 2 years of postgraduate clinical experience after your medical degree. In exceptional circumstances, alternative relevant experience of a similar level is considered
Training position: a position at an RCPA-accredited laboratory, won through its selection. An observer post earns no training time
- Coordinated appointment: where your state runs a coordinated appointment process for your discipline, your position must come through it, or the College may not accredit your training

Applications

Timeline

Applications

Applications open mid-JulyThrough the centralised haematology process of the Annual Medical Recruitment campaign

No information available on interview dates.

When to apply

Apply in postgraduate year 2 at the earliest, to start training in postgraduate year 3.

Selection format

Referee report
Panel interview

Competition

Moderate

Places are limited by the training positions accredited laboratories offer each year. Trainees already in training who progress well are offered continuing posts before new trainees are appointed.

Program structure

Choose a pathway

Total training
5 years
Full-time equivalent, in accredited training positions
In haematology
4 years
At least, of the 5
Fellowship
Year 5
Once Part II, the dissertation and the portfolio are complete

Throughout training

In any one laboratory: 4 years; At most, so you train at 2 sites at least
Short-term rotation: 2 months; At least, consecutive

Rules and conditions

One year of the 5 can be in another branch of laboratory medicine
Where a technique is not available in your laboratory, visits or rotations elsewhere are arranged
Staying longer than 4 years in one laboratory needs dispensation, granted only in exceptional circumstances and applied for at the start of training

Stage by stage

Stage 1 of 2

Training to Part I

Usually the first 3 years

Supervised training in laboratory haematology and transfusion medicine, to the Part I examination.

Competencies

Laboratory skills in blood cell and bone marrow morphology, investigation of haemoglobinopathies, and haemostasis and thrombosis
Diagnosing blood cancers, leukaemias and lymphomas, and a detailed knowledge of transfusion medicine
Bone marrow biopsy and analysis of the specimen, with ancillary cytogenetic or molecular testing where the case needs it
Investigating and treating bleeding and clotting disorders, and monitoring the medications that thin blood
Overseeing the transfusion of blood products, including advice on managing a massive transfusion, and in some posts the blood bank that supplies the hospital
Genetic blood disorders such as thalassaemia, and malignant conditions such as myeloma

Examinations

Basic Pathological Sciences examination
Not needed to apply, and you can sit it before training, as a medical, science or dental student, an intern or a resident
- A pass or an exemption is needed before Part II
- Applications to sit the examinations close 28 February each year, and late applications are not accepted
Haematology Part I
During or after the third year

Assessments

Bone marrow biopsy assessment
In the first year of laboratory training

One program run by both colleges through the Committee for Joint College Training in Haematology. The laboratory years add the RCPA examinations.

Total training
7 years
From the start of Basic Training, full time
After Basic Training
4 years
2 years of core laboratory haematology and 2 years of core clinical haematology
Fellowship
Year 7
FRACP and FRCPA together, at the end of the joint program

Throughout training

RCPA examinations: 3; Basic Pathological Sciences, Part I and Part II
Divisional examinations: 2; Written and Clinical, passed in Basic Training

Rules and conditions

Basic Pathological Sciences examination: one 2.5-hour online paper of 100 multiple choice questions, usually before or during the first year. Students, interns and resident medical officers can sit it. A pass or an exemption is needed before Part II, not before Part I
Part I examination: in two phases, a written paper and a digital slide examination, then a dry practical and an oral. Joint trainees sit it once they will have 18 months of accredited laboratory training by the second phase
Part II examination: an oral of two 15-minute stations on the haematologist as manager of a laboratory, in the final year of training, after Part I

Stage by stage

Stage 1 of 4

Basic Training

Years 1 to 3

Entry follows RACP Basic Training, in adult medicine or in paediatrics and child health.

Examinations

Divisional examinations
The Divisional Written Examination and the Divisional Clinical Examination, both passed before Advanced Training

Selection criteria

Score your portfolio

Clinical experience

Breadth of clinical experience: clinical experience relevant to pathology. Success in another college's postgraduate examination, such as Part 1 of the dermatology, physician or surgical Fellowship examination, also counts
Pathology experience: work experience in pathology, and a pass in the Basic Pathological Sciences or a similar examination

Rural & regional

Rural experience: schooling or a medical course in a rural or regional area

First Nations

Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori applicants who meet the registration and clinical experience criteria are all interviewed

Academic

Higher degrees: a master's degree, a doctorate or another postgraduate degree
Teaching: teaching you have given, such as to medical students, junior doctors or laboratory staff

Publications & research

Publications: papers published in peer-reviewed journals
Presentations: presentations you gave at hospital meetings, or at external meetings and symposia
Research, including projects involving scientific enquiry

Extracurricular

Achievements, volunteering or leadership, at work or outside it

Academic achievement

Honours, awards and scholarships

Referees

At least two, each sent a standard report form. Their reports count toward professionalism and ethics, and communication. Where reports conflict, more references may be sought, or you may be asked to answer an adverse comment

Interview

Selection interview: a structured interview with a panel of department heads and an RCPA representative
- Commitment to pathology: your interest in pathology, what you know of it, and why you are applying
- Enquiring mind: analytical and clinical reasoning, tested with scenario questions
- Professionalism and ethics: tested with scenario questions
- Communication: your verbal communication at interview. Your written communication is assessed in the application
- Flexibility: willingness to work in every area of the rotation, including outer metropolitan and regional sites, and the hours the workplace needs

Scoring

Strong weighting is recommended for professionalism and communication
- Feedback: if you are not appointable, you are told soon after the interviews, and the panel chair gives feedback if you ask. You can appeal, with a review outside the panel

Application process

Employment: a position that comes free during the year goes first to the original applicants, in their interview ranking
1. Apply for a training position through your state's selection for your discipline. Each state's process is on the RCPA's training positions page. Apply through the same centralised haematology process of the Annual Medical Recruitment
2. The selection panel draws up a shortlist from the applications and referee reports
3. The panel interviews the shortlisted applicants
4. The panel ranks the applicants and offers positions in rank order, matched to each laboratory's needs and your preferences. An appointable applicant not placed may be offered a position that comes free later
5. Register with the RCPA within 2 months of starting, with a training program your supervisor has signed, and register again by 28 February each year

Practise this interview with each station timed. Interview practice

Entry tips

Medical school

Sit the Basic Pathological Sciences examination as a medical student, since students sit it at a reduced price, and you need a pass or an exemption before Part II.

Basic Training

Finish RACP Basic Training, with its Written and Clinical Examinations, before applying for the joint route, since the joint program starts from it and credits it as one of the five pathology years.

Interview

Interview well even if no post is offered at first, since a post that falls vacant during the year goes to the original applicants by their interview rank.

What the college has changed

2025-01
Trainees starting from 2025 register, record training changes and submit supervisor reports through the online training portal.

Training posts

None available.

Prerequisites

Applications

Timeline

When to apply

Selection format

Competition

Program structure

Competencies

Examinations

Assessments

Examinations

Projects

Examinations

Examinations

Projects

Examinations

Assessments

Selection criteria

Clinical experience

Rural & regional

First Nations

Academic

Publications & research

Extracurricular

Academic achievement

Referees

Interview

Scoring

Application process

Entry tips

What the college has changed

Training posts

Available Haematology (Pathology) training positions

Official resources

Official links

Related specialties