We're committed to modernising and investing in the future quality of our training programs. With our focus on modernising our training platforms to offer trainees, supervisors, members, and specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs) a consistent world-class educational experience, we're excited to announce that we're replacing the Training Portfolio System (TPS) with a contemporary cloud-based training solution for the anaesthesia Training Program.
Questions about the training portfolio system (TPS)
If you have completed all the training requirements of your core unit you will need to complete a core unit review (CUR) with your supervisor of training (SOT). Once your SOT has submitted the CUR in the training portfolio system (TPS), you will need to respond. The TPS will then automatically update you to the next core unit.
Any time spent not in training should be recorded as leave. This includes annual leave, bereavement leave, sick leave, parental leave, study leave, examination leave and industrial action.
You should still record this time as “leave” in the training portfolio system and have this confirmed by your supervisor of training. Any excess leave will not accrue towards the approved vocational training time. If you take more than 12 continuous weeks of leave, you will need to apply for interrupted training.
Public holidays are not counted as leave. When a public holiday falls on a day when you would normally be working, it counts as a clinical day, whether or not you were actually required to work that day.
Time spent completing mandatory courses (for example, the Advanced Life Support course) should be recorded as clinical anaesthesia time in the traiing portfolio system. Time taken to attend non-mandatory courses, such as exam preparation courses should be recorded as leave.
Supervisors of training or departmental scholar role tutors can access and approve all scholar role activities ion the training portfolio system, except the audit activity which will need to be assessed and approved by the departmental scholar role tutor.
FANZCA nominees can help to do assessments and evaluations of scholar role activities for trainees and automatically get continuing professional development points for evaluating scholar role activities.
After you have completed all volume of practice and workplace-based assessments for a specialised study unit (SSU), you must complete an SSU review with your SSU supervisor.
Once the SSU review has been confirmed by your supervisor of training, the SSU will show as completed on your dashboard.
Questions about the replacement system
Although our legacy TPS, developed over 12 years ago, has served us well, it has become outdated and limits growth and innovation. The system lacks scalability and flexibility, making it difficult to implement major enhancements or support new programs in a timely manner. As such, it no longer meets ANZCA’s evolving needs.
The new system is focused on presenting improved user experience, and clear presentation of training information that's easy to understand and interpret.
There are many benefits coming with the new system. Some of them will be more noticeable than others.
- The look and feel of the system have been updated to a modern standard in line with the ANZCA website.
- Workflows are being improved to make the system easier to use.
- The whole system has been designed with mobile devices in mind.
The first phase of development (which focuses on the ANZCA Training Program) is scheduled to go live in November 2025.
Updates to the ANZCA Training Handbook will be made to reflect how to use the new system.
We value any feedback you may have to improve your training experience. You can contact the Project Elevate team at [email protected].
While phase 1 of the project focuses on the ANZCA Training Program, there is every intention to extend the new platform to support the college's other training programs and offerings. The onboarding of the other programs and offerings will be prioritised as they are approved by council.
Training requirements
Trainees must complete an Advanced Life Support (ALS) course, or equivalent course, in every core unit, including provisional fellowship training.
Exemptions and equivalent courses are listed below:
| To be exempt from | You will need to complete |
|---|---|
| Advanced life support (ALS) |
|
| ALS and "can't intubate, can't oxygenate" CICO (if relevant for the core unit the Effective Management of Anaesthetic Crises (EMAC) course is completed in) |
|
| Paediatric life support |
|
| Trauma team member for the inital assessment and resuscitation of a multi-trauma case. Note: EMST course required if volume of practice is not met. |
|
After your advanced training core unit review has been submitted, you will enter provisional fellowship training pending. You will still be able to enter time, courses, scholar role meetings, cases and procedures and WBAs, however they will not accrue towards your provisional fellowship training requirements.
Paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) training accredited at a College of Intensive Care Medicine training site may count towards your ANZCA training as other clinical time. Prospective approval from the director of professional affairs assessor is required. However it does not meet the requirements of the intensive care specialised unit.
If you want to change your scholar role requirements from option B to option A, you need to complete all pending scholar role activities including the local audit assessed by departmental scholar role tutor.
Training sites
The duration of extended training mirrors the duration of accredited anaesthesia training, up to a maximum of 104 weeks. The allowable duration for extended training for training sites is:
| Approved duration | Allowable duration for extended training |
|---|---|
| 26 weeks | 26 weeks |
| 52 weeks | 52 weeks |
| 104 weeks | 104 weeks |
| 156 weeks | 104 weeks |
Other frequently asked questions about anaesthesia training
Important information for all candidates participating in ANZCA exams, including our conditions of application and entry.
Find answers to frequently asked questions about progressing to provisional fellowship.
Changes to program requirements are being introduced to the ANZCA training program in 2025 and will apply to trainees who begin introductory training after 1 January 2025.
The Patient Clinical Interaction Assessment (PCIA) is being introduced in 2025 to address the gap left when the patient clinical interaction was removed from the medical viva (in 2020).