About the program
Procedural GPs are doctors who have a specialised skill, such as in obstetrics, anaesthetics, surgery, emergency medicine, and emergency mental health.
The RPGP provides grants of up to $32,000 to rural GPs and locums who provide procedural services. This helps with the cost of attending continuing professional development activities, to maintain or increase their procedural and emergency medicine skills (including emergency mental health).
The funding is available to those who work in rural or remote areas, and covers expenses like:
- course costs
- locum relief
- travel costs.
Goals of the program
This program aims to support procedural GPs who work in rural and remote areas to:
- improve or extend current skill levels
- ensure they have the skills to provide high-quality services
- comply with the professional development requirements of their GP college.
This helps ensure people in rural and remote areas have access to highly skilled health professionals.
Who we work with
We fund the 2 GP colleges – the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) – to deliver the program. The colleges:
- determine whether the applicant and proposed training are eligible
- pay the grants directly to successful GPs.
Eligibility
To be eligible, you must:
- practise in areas classified as MM 3 to 7 under the Modified Monash Model (MMM)
- hold vocational recognition as a GP or be enrolled in a fellowship pathway with either the ACRRM or RACGP
- practise in surgery, anaesthetics, obstetrics, emergency medicine or emergency mental health
- have unsupervised clinical privileges in your field at a hospital
- participate in a regular roster or general on-call roster
- have a relevant pre-existing qualification or have completed Advanced Specialist Training, if you are a GP registrar
- provide a minimum of 28 days’ locum work each year in MM 3 to 7 areas, if you are a locum.
The first step is to register with either the RACGP or the ACRRM for the program.
Related information
Rural Procedural Grants Program guidelines
Review of the RPGP and GPPTSP – Evaluation Report
Review of the Rural Procedural Grants Program and the Practice Incentives Program Procedural GP Payments
Contact
For more information or to register and apply for the program, contact either the: