Student obligations

Table of contents

Deed of Agreement

If you decide to take up an offer of a BMP Scheme place, you will need to enter into a legal Deed of Agreement with the Australian Government that specifies your rights and obligations on the one hand and the Australian Government's on the other.

Joining the BMP Scheme is a legal commitment and it is strongly advised that you seek legal advice to ensure that you understand the terms and conditions of the Deed of Agreement you will be signing.

The Deed of Agreement requires you to:

Complete your medical studies and gain Fellowship, either as a general practitioner or a specialist within 16 years of commencing your medical studies, excluding any deferrals.
Work for a period of time equal to the length of your medical degree in a District of Workforce Shortage of your choice, for your specialty.Top of page

Return of Service obligation

As a BMP Scheme doctor you can choose where you work, and for whom you work, when undertaking the return of service obligation. The only requirement is that you work in an area designated as a District of Workforce Shortage for your specialty, including general practice.

You can undertake up to half your return of service during prevocational training and vocational training. From your second year of prevocational training, the eligible areas to count towards your return of service are RRMA 1 (outer metropolitan areas only) to RRMA 7. For vocational training to count towards your return of service it needs to be completed in a District of Workforce Shortage as defined in the Deed of Agreement. Work in RRMA 1 is permitted if there is a shortage of speciality. Each period of vocational training must not be shorter than 3 months, to be counted towards the return of service.

It is possible to seek permission to defer the return of service period in special circumstances. BMP Scheme participants are entitled to take breaks in their study and during the return of service period for parenthood. Top of page

Breach of Deed of Agreement

If you fail to fulfil your obligations in your Deed of Agreement with the Australian Government, you will be in breach of your Agreement.

A BMP Scheme participant will be considered to be in breach of the Deed of Agreement if, for example, they:

withdraw or are excluded from the medical course after starting the second year of study
withdraw or are excluded from the medical course and consequently the Scheme while repeating the first year of the medical course
fail to become registered as a medical practitioner (following your intern year) within ten years of commencing the course (unless a deferral for parenting or an extension of time has been approved)
fail to obtain Fellowship of a medical college within 16 years of starting the medical course (unless a deferral for parenting or an extension of time has been approved)
do not complete their obligation to work in a District of Workforce Shortage for a period of time equal to the length of their degree.

If this occurs, you will be required to repay what it has cost the Australian Government to provide your place at university, on a pro-rata basis.

For example, if you have worked half of your return of service period in a District of Workforce Shortage before breaching the Deed of Agreement, you must repay half of what it has cost the Australian Government to provide your place at university.

Please note: This information summarises the breach conditions in the Deed of Agreement. It does not overrule or diminish what is stated in individual Deeds of Agreement with the Australian Government. Top of page

Completing medical training

Once you obtain your medical degree, you will commence training to become a fully qualified doctor, and attain your Fellowship.

Prevocational training

After graduating from an Australian Medical Council (AMC) accredited medical school, Australian medical graduates must undertake a year of supervised training. This year is known as an intern year or PGY1, and must be completed before you can gain general registration as a medical practitioner.

Once you complete your intern or PGY1 year, and gain general medical registration, you enter PGY2. The PGY2 is a year of structured rotations through supervised training placements, mostly in public hospitals. There is a state based annual application and allocation process. Top of page

Vocational training

Most junior doctors enter vocational training programs after two years of prevocational work. The term 'vocational training' is used to indicate medical training that is being undertaken in a training program in pursuit of a specific career option either in general practice, or specialist practice such as radiology or obstetrics. Most vocational training programs are between three to six years in duration. Information about vocational training may be found on the Australian Medical Council's website at: www.amc.org.au/images/SpecialistCollegeReports/SpecialistCollegeDetails.pdf

Tenure

You can apply to stay in some locations from the time you commence your vocational training. Eligible locations are RRMA 3-7 areas for general practitioners and RRMA 2-7 areas for specialists.

If you undertake your vocational training in an eligible location and are granted tenure, you can remain in the same location to complete your return of service, even if that location ceases to be a District of Workforce Shortage.

If you have not applied for and been granted tenure, you may have to move to an eligible District of Workforce Shortage to complete your return of service after attaining fellowship.

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