If you've been assessed for anaesthesia, your CPA period must be in clinical anaesthesia; time spent in other specialities will not be considered. If you've been assessed for pain medicine, your CPA period must be in pain medicine; time spent in other specialities will not be considered.
Before commencing the CPA period, you must submit an application for approval of a position for either pain medicine or anaesthesia and a supervisors agreement for review. We will send the outcome of this review to:
- You (the applicant)
- Your supervisor, and;
- (In Australia only), to AHPRA.
In Australia, we will only accept applications for approval of a position in the prescribed format. In New Zealand position descriptions submitted to the MCNZ may be considered. If you fail to submit this application before starting the position, we may not count any time prior to application towards your CPA period.
A full-time equivalent position (FTE) must be 38 hours per week within a SIMG’s scope of practice. Practice includes all aspects of the SIMG’s scope of the specialty and may include clinical and non- clinical practice. The maximum number of hours that can be counted per week is 38 hours. Twelve months of practice means a minimum of 47 weeks FTE practice. Annual leave is not included in the 47 weeks. Part-time positions must be at least 0.5 FTE.
If at any point during your employment you wish to change an aspect of your position (for example, changes to the start or end dates of the position, move to part-time hours), you must submit PD variation form.
If at any point during your individual program you move positions you should submit a new application to the college for review.
You must have an approved supervisor for your entire CPA period. The nominated supervisor will be reviewed for suitability during the review of the position description.
If your supervisor changes during your CPA period, you should submit a new supervisor’s agreement and an application for variation to a position description (PD) form for review by the college.
In order to be eligible to be an SIMG supervisor, the FANZCA/FFPMANZCA must comply with the MBA guidelines in Australia, and the MCNZ guidelines in New Zealand. Further information about becoming a supervisor can be found here.
Once we've approved a CPA position, the nominated supervisor must submit a CPA report every three months. We will accept ANZCA CPA reports for either anaesthesia or pain medicine or MCNZ supervisor reports. CPA report should be submitted within three months of the end date of the report. Failure to do so may result in that period of CPA not being counted towards your requirements.
You must continue to submit three-monthly CPA reports until all requirements of your individual program are complete. Failure to do so will delay the completion of your SIMG process.
Any CPA report that is submitted prospectively will not be considered unless prior written consent to submit a prospective CPA report has been granted.