RGA FAQs

ANZCA is responsible for the clinical standards in the curriculum, while ACRRM and RACGP are responsible for standards and requirements for their respective rural generalist fellowship programs.

The Rural Generalist Anesthesia training program is modelled on the ANZCA curriculum and builds from the relevant core curricula of the ACRRM and RACGP fellowship programs for rural generalist practice. It consists of three core sections:

1. Rural generalist anaesthesia roles in practice.
 This defines trainee behaviours as they pertain to anaesthesia and perioperative medicine:

• Medical expert.
• Communicator.
• Collaborator.
• Leader and manager.
• Health advocate.
• Scholar.
• Professional.

2. Clinical fundamentals.
 Define the fundamental specialty knowledge and skills of anaesthetists applicable across all areas of practice:

• Airway management.
• General anaesthesia and sedation.
• Regional and local anaesthesia.
•  Perioperative medicine.
• Pain medicine.
• Resuscitation, trauma and crises management.
• Safety and quality in anaesthetic practice.

 3. Specialised study units.
 Define specialised knowledge and skills in paediatrics and obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia.
 
The curriculum can be viewed or downloaded under the Course content and structure tab of this webpage.

Not all EPAs will need to be completed in order.

However, EPA 2 - Obstetric Epidural Analgesia, does need to be completed before EPA 7 - Obstetric Analgesia and Anaesthesia. These are the only two EPAs that must be done in sequence. 

So while the EPAs do not necessarily need to be completed sequentially, it’s likely that the paediatric and obstetric EPAs will be completed later in training and pain medicine, perioperative assessment and epidural analgesia EPA’s will be completed earlier in training. 

EPAs 1 - 4 must be completed, and EPAs 5 - 7 commenced to be eligible to sit for the RGA Standardised Structured Scenario-based assessment (RGA-SSSA).  

The following courses must be completed as pre-requisites or as part of the Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (RGA) training program:

• An advanced life support (ALS-2) course or equivalent (where competency in resuscitation and defibrillation is assessed) must be completed in the 52 weeks prior to entering RGA training.
• A Can’t Intubate, Can’t Oxygenate (CICO) course or equivalent must be completed during RGA training, prior to the completion of EPA 3.
• A neonatal resuscitation course or equivalent must be completed during the RGA training, prior to the completion of EPA 7
• A paediatric life support course or equivalent must be completed during the RGA training, prior to the completion of EPA 6
• Trainees must complete the online Perioperative Anaphylaxis Response course, available through ANZCA’s Networks, prior to the completion of EPA 5. Alternatively, trainees may complete an ANZCA Anaphylaxis practical simulation session or workshop that has been recognised as a valid activity for satisfying the CPD requirement for the management of anaphylaxis.

The minimum duration to complete the rural generalist anesthesia training program is 52 weeks FTE anaesthesia time (including up to 8 weeks leave). Maximum duration for completion is two years.

Requests for extension of training time beyond two years will be considered on a case-by-case basis by completing a DPA request form via the training ePortfolio.

No. There will be volume of practice (VOP) requirements for epidural analgesia and paediatric cases however these VOP requirements are similar to those in the current JCCA training and able to be completed in a one-year training program.

CPD requirements for holders of the Rural Generalist Anaesthesia qualification are currently being considered, however they are likely to be similar to the current JCCA requirements.

The exam towards the end of training is just part of a suite of assessment and trainees need to successfully complete their workplace-based assessments (WBAs) as well as the exams. 

The RGA Standardised Structured Scenario-based assessment (RGA-SSSA)  will occur towards the end of training and it is likely that the candidates will participate in that standardised assessment from the areas where they are working and examiners will be in a centralised centre. The exam will be delivered to the trainees virtually, but the examiners will be together in a centre.  

The faculty of examiners will be coordinated by the RGA Examination Committee and is expected to include FANZCAs and rural generalist anaesthetists.

An ePortfolio will be used to document activities and assessments and track progress towards training requirements. Some useful features of the ePortfolio are

• Personalised dashboard showing all relevant information in one view.
• Ability to use the ePortfolio in “Offline” mode when you are in areas with low network coverage and upload your work later.
• Supervisor access to all their trainees in one location and ability to view reports.
• Easy and clear tracking against program requirements for both supervisors and trainees.

Once you have been registered as an RGA trainee with ANZCA, we will set up your access to the training ePortfolio. You will then receive an email from ANZCA with a link to the ePortfolio, your user ID, and a temporary password to gain access to the ePortfolio.

You should change your password the first time that you successfully log in.

Please send your enquiries to [email protected] .

We are currently working on a project for Single Sign On. Until that project is finalised you can change your password by using the ‘forgot password’ feature on the login page.

Any changes to your profile must be done by the RGA training team. Please send any change requests to [email protected]. 

Yes, there are separate user guides for trainees and supervisors:

• RGA Trainee ePortfolio user guide
• RGA SOT ePortfolio user guide

The graduate outcomes will be similar to the JCCA. However, unlike the JCCA, where graduate outcomes can vary, particularly in paediatrics and obstetrics, all graduate outcomes for the rural generalist anesthesia training program will be the same. 

In paediatrics, all graduates will be certified to anaesthetise children 5 years and over. In obstetrics all graduates will be certified epidural competent.

The primary aim of the rural generalist anesthesia training program is to provide rural generalists with the knowledge, skills and professional attributes necessary for anaesthesia practice in rural communities so priority will be given to training in regional and rural contexts wherever possible. 

Like JCCA training, there will be no geographic restrictions on either the training posts or subsequent practise locations for rural generalist anaesthetists.   

Ultimately it is up to credentialing committees, including those of metropolitan hospitals, to decide whether they will recognise this qualification (RGA) for their particular service. The intended purpose is to train people to work in the context of rural and remote Australia.

There is always crossover both ways between ANZCA trainees deciding to go into rural generalist practice and practising as rural generalist anaesthetists and some rural generalist anaesthetists that decide to go across into ANZCA training. For those that are currently training as rural generalist anaesthetists and then decide that they want to go on to anaesthesia training, they will need to apply though the regular RPL process available to all ANZCA trainees and potential trainees.

It is not the intention of the rural generalist anesthesia training program that it becomes a pathway for ANZCA training. The purpose is to provide advanced skills in anaesthesia training to rural GPs.

Similarly, for ANZCA trainees who decide that they no longer want to complete the anaesthesia training and want to transition into the rural generalist anesthesia training program and provide rural anaesthesia, there will be some recognition of prior learning in accordance with the RGA recognition of prior learning and experience requirements.

Training courses and/or webinars will be conducted for all new supervisors to explain the training requirements and how to monitor trainee progress. Keep an eye out for 2025 dates.

Supervisors of training must be a fellow of ANZCA or a RGA Advanced Certificate holder. 

Yes. If the trainees are in a centre where there are only FANZCAs and no rural generalist anaesthetists, then we would strongly encourage the trainee to have a rural generalist  anaesthetist mentor, ideally in a hospital that is linked to that tertiary centre to gain an understanding of rural context.

Firstly, in those situations we will be supporting the trainee to achieve those competencies because they are a requirement of the Rural Generalist Anaesthesia (RGA) training program. Next, an option may be that the trainee would benefit from extended training time and may need to go to a paediatric or obstetric centre so that they can complete the volume of practice and gain the confidence they need in those areas of practice.

The RGA training program has the same graduate outcomes for all graduates so if the trainee was unable to complete those two components of the curriculum then they would be unable to be complete the training program.

Yes but these will depend on employment arrangements. The Rural Generalist Anaesthesia training program can be completed in two years at 0.5 FTE.

All training requirements must be completed within two calendar years of the date of commencement of training. Any time spent in interrupted training will not count towards the two years to complete. Periods of interruption greater than 8 weeks will require a re-entry to practice period.

Rural Generalist Anaesthesia trainees will enrol with ANZCA so they will have access to the same college library services that ANZCA trainees have. They will also have access to a learning platform similar to ANZCA trainees.