How to Become a Sports Physician in Australia

Prerequisites

Registration: current, unconditional medical registration in Australia or New Zealand when you apply
Postgraduate years: postgraduate year 3 completed before training starts
Citizenship and residency: Australian or New Zealand citizenship or permanent residency
Entrance Examination: a pass in every paper, valid for 10 calendar years
Applications: at most four, after which you cannot apply again

Applications

Timeline

Year before

Next year

Applications

Entrance Examination applications open, early NovemberFor both sittings of the year.

When to apply

Apply in postgraduate year 3 at the earliest, to start training in postgraduate year 4 once year 3 is complete.

Selection format

CV
Referee report
Multiple mini-interview

Preferencing

Rank the accredited training sites open that year, from most to least preferred. The sites rank applicants too, and a match makes first-round offers, which you and the site must both accept
- Second round: if you or the site declines, you wait for a second-round offer, made only at the selection committee's discretion
- Later offers: if a selected applicant withdraws in the first 6 months of training, the place can be offered to an applicant who was not selected
- Deferral: ask by the date in your offer to defer your start by 12 months, then tell ACSEP by 31 July that you will start the following year

Competition

Moderate

Selection success was 43% in 2024 and 57% in 2023.

Program structure

Total training
6 years 7 months
From internship: 3 postgraduate years, then the training program
After postgraduate year 3
3 years 7 months
Full time at least, across three stages
Fellowship
Year 7
FACSEP, at the end of the training program

Throughout training

Training week: 36 hours; Of clinical training at least, full time
Training year: 44 weeks; Of clinical training at least, within 52 weeks
Time away: 8 weeks; Most in a training year, with team tours, overseas conferences and personal leave
Site moves: 1; At least, to a different accredited site

Rules and conditions

Most training is in private, community-based accredited training sites run by Fellows rather than in hospitals
Some time can be spent in non-accredited settings focused on sport and exercise medicine, such as emergency clinics, hospital surgeries or sporting clubs
The College places you at your first site by preference matching. When you move, you choose your next site, if it can supervise you

Stage by stage

Stage 1 of 3

Musculoskeletal injury

Minimum 1 year (maximum 2 years)

The foundation stage, from the first year of training.

Training time

The Registrar Conference and the ACSEP conference every calendar year

Competencies

Assess patients presenting with common musculoskeletal injuries and trauma
Manage the care of patients with acute musculoskeletal injuries
Manage the care and rehabilitation of patients with overuse and chronic injuries

Courses

Anti-Doping Course
Education modules in cultural safety and awareness, and three in ethics
Academic modules in biomechanics and research methodology

Projects

A research proposal, presented at the Registrar Conference

Selection criteria

Score your portfolio

Curriculum vitae

7 categories

Marked by two selection committee members, and a third where their totals differ by more than 20%. Every entry needs indexed supporting evidence

Work history

25.5%

Sport and exercise medicine clinical rotations, and sitting in with a Fellow.

Engagement, courses, awards and personal sport experience

25.5%

Conferences, education modules including trauma, anti-doping and cultural safety, scholarships and awards, and personal involvement in sport.

Sport and exercise medicine work history

21.3%

Paid roles, event and team coverage across different sports, and long-term team coverage for one team.

Academic

8.5%

Postgraduate achievements in the specialty, such as a doctorate, a masters or a diploma.

Leadership and community engagement

8.5%

Committee and other leadership roles in sport and exercise medicine organisations, and community service.

Research

6.4%

Peer reviewed publication, first authorship particularly.

Research presentations

4.3%

Spoken and poster presentations in the specialty at local, national and international conferences.

Referees

Average of 3

Three. ACSEP sends each a written referee check and scores it. Your referee score is the average of the three, and it is added to your curriculum vitae score to rank applicants for interview
- The check: ACSEP is revising the referee check, and will publish the new process when it is ready
- Concerns: one negative reference goes to the committee chairs, and more than one can stop an applicant reaching interview

Workforce diversity priorities

Interview preference

Up to 60% of interview places are offered first to applicants who meet a workforce diversity priority, and each priority met adds points to the final score. ACSEP does not publish how many
- Rural: at least 12 months of non-bonded postgraduate work, or 5 years at school, in a regional or rural area: Modified Monash 2 to 7 in Australia, or outside the main city councils in Aotearoa New Zealand
- First Nations: Australian Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Māori or Pasifika descent, or identifying as a person of that heritage and accepted by that community
- Gender: identifying as female or non-binary

Interview

Multiple mini interview stations of 6 to 10 minutes, held online, each scored and summed
- Domains: communication, collaboration, management, quality and safety, health advocacy, research, teaching and learning, professionalism, and cultural awareness
- Numbers: as many interviews as available training sites, plus 50%

Scoring

Final score: the curriculum vitae, referee and interview scores, plus points for each workforce diversity priority met
Reconsideration: if you think a selection decision was wrong, ask ACSEP to reconsider it within 3 months of being told. You can then ask for a review within 2 weeks of its answer, and appeal within 2 weeks of the review's answer

Practise this interview with each station timed. Interview practice

Entry tips

Medical school

Join ACSEP as a student member, and as an associate member once you graduate, for its online sport and exercise medicine learning and member pricing on its courses and conferences.

Postgraduate year 1

Sit the Entrance Examination. It is open from graduation with provisional registration, and a pass stays valid for 10 calendar years.

Postgraduate years 1 to 3

Contact a Fellow at one of the College's accredited practices and ask to sit in on their clinics, then have them sign the College's sit-in form. It counts in work history, a quarter of the curriculum vitae.

Clinical experience

Cover events and teams through a sports club, an event's medical team or a sports medicine practice. Paid sports and exercise medicine roles, event cover across several sports and a season with one team all count in sport and exercise medicine work history.

Courses

Attend the ACSEP Annual Scientific Conference and complete trauma, anti-doping and cultural safety modules. They count in the engagement category.

Prior learning

Apply within 3 months of starting to have earlier learning credited, such as a sports trauma course, a Masters or PhD subject that matches an academic module, or published sport and exercise medicine research.

What the college has changed

2026-10
Accredited training practices are now called accredited training sites.
2026-07
Training sites are accredited against new ACSEP standards, built on the Australian Medical Council model standards for training settings.

Workforce

Fellows in Australia

175

At 31 December 2025

Fellows by state, 2025

Fellows by state, 2025
Jurisdiction	Fellows
Australian Capital Territory (your selected state)	13

Source: Australian Government Department of Health. Medical Education and Training (2025), Chapter 4: Fellows, College Fellows by state, as at 31 December 2025.

Workforce data by state

QLD: Queensland Health medi-nav. NSW: NSW Health Map My Career. VIC, WA, SA, TAS, ACT, NT: Australian Government Health Workforce Data.

Training posts

None available.

Prerequisites

Applications

Timeline

When to apply

Selection format

Preferencing

Competition

Program structure

Training time

Competencies

Courses

Projects

Training time

Competencies

Examinations

Courses

Projects

Training time

Competencies

Examinations

Courses

Projects

Selection criteria

Curriculum vitae

Work history

Engagement, courses, awards and personal sport experience

Sport and exercise medicine work history

Academic

Leadership and community engagement

Research

Research presentations

Referees

Workforce diversity priorities

Interview

Scoring

Entry tips

What the college has changed

Workforce

Fellows by state, 2025

Workforce data by state

Training posts

Available Sport and Exercise Medicine training positions

Official resources

Official links

Application process