Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM)

The Emergency Medicine FACEM Training program equips emergency practitioners to become consultants in emergency medicine. The FACEM Training Program is a five year training program. It can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis. The training program includes structured training and education, work-place based assessments, research requirements and examinations.

The program has three stages:

• Provisional Training
• Early Phase Advanced Training
• Late Phase Advanced Training

ACEM also provides programs in collaboration with other specialty colleges, for combined qualifications in the specialties of Intensive Care (with the College of Intensive Care Medicine, CICM) or Paediatric Emergency Medicine (with the Royal Australian College of Physicians, RACP). These pathways allow you to streamline training in both specialties to achieve joint Fellowship.

Further details regarding FACEM training. 

To be eligible to apply for selection into FACEM Training, you must satisfy all the following requirements and supply associated supporting documentation by the closing date for your application round.

• You must have one of the following:
  • An Australian or New Zealand primary medical degree, or
  • Successfully completed the requirements necessary to obtain the Australian Medical Council (AMC) Certificate or general registration with the Medical Board of Australia via the Competent Authority Pathway, or
  • Be a graduate in Medicine and Surgery of a Medical School recognised by the Medical Council of New Zealand.
• You must have one of the following for the country of application (Australia or Aotearoa / New Zealand):
  • Citizenship, or
  • Permanent Residency status, or
  • Necessary visas to undertake training.
• You must have one of the following:
  • Full general registration* with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) if applying for training in Australia, or
  • Full general medical registration* with the Medical Council of New Zealand if applying for training in New Zealand.

*Your registration must have no suspension, condition, restriction or undertaking imposed that limits you having unconditional medical registration in Australia or New Zealand as applicable. If you cannot meet this eligibility criteria, you may apply via the Exceptional Circumstances and Special Consideration Policy to have your application for Selection into FACEM Training considered.

• You must be able to fulfil the requirements of the training program.
• You must be in at least your second postgraduate year (PGY2) at the time of application.
• You must have completed the following:
  • A minimum of one full term* in emergency medicine, completed in or after PGY2, in Australia and/or New Zealand, within the last two years, and
  • A minimum of two full terms* in two different disciplines other than emergency medicine.

* With respect to the minimum term requirements above;

• A full term is defined as a minimum of eight weeks full time equivalent (FTE) of clinical work, exclusive of any leave.
• Locum work is not included.
• Relief terms are not included.
• Terms in emergency medicine during the intern year (PGY1) are not included.
• Terms in disciplines other than emergency medicine may be completed outside Australia and Aotearoa / New Zealand and may include terms undertaken during the intern year (PGY1).
• If you are in PGY2, you will need to ensure you have an Emergency Medicine placement in the first half of the year so that you can complete a full term before the application closing date. You are strongly encouraged to undertake terms in disciplines other than emergency medicine in your second (and subsequent, where applicable) postgraduate years in order to diversify your experience.

The ACEM selection into FACEM Training process consists of three components:

• Structured Curriculum Vitae Form
• Selection References (minimum of four)
• Institutional Reference.

Details of requirements for Selection into FACEM Training.

Indigenous Entry Pathways Description

Not applicable.

Key Dates

There are two application rounds each year. Applicants for Selection into FACEM Training who intend to commence training in Australia may apply in either Round 1 or Round 2. Applicants may submit one application per year only.

It is strongly recommended that applications to commence training in New Zealand be submitted in Round 1 to ensure that your enrolment can be completed before the start of the training year.

If you intend to commence training in New South Wales, we recommend applying in Round 1 to ensure that you receive your outcome before state recruitment ends.

All applicants must commence training at the start of the relevant medical training year.

Applications for Round 1 generally open in May and applications for Round 2 generally open in September.

Specific dates for Selection into FACEM Training. 

Placement Requirements

FACEM Training is undertaken in:

• Emergency Departments that have been accredited by ACEM to provide the FACEM Training Program;
• Critical Care placements (Anaesthetics and/or Intensive Care) accredited by ANZCA and CICM for training; and
• Non-ED placements accredited by the relevant College, or by ACEM, for training.

Most training is undertaken in Emergency departments.  Placements in Critical Care help trainees to consolidate procedural and patient management skills developed in the ED.  Non-ED training enables trainees to enhance their patient management skills, and to gain an appreciation of the organisational structure of the ED within the hospital system, the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration to optimise patient care, including patient disposition upon admission.

Further details regarding accreditation of sites for FACEM training.

The FACEM Training Program assessments underscore each of the eight domains of the ACEM Curriculum Framework available here.

• Communication
• Health Advocacy
• Leadership and Management
• Medical Expertise
• Prioritisation and Decision Making
• Professionalism
• Scholarship and Teaching
• Teamwork and Collaboration

Trainees complete a broad range of assessment activities progressively throughout the FACEM Training Program. The assessments ensure the continuous development of knowledge, skills and attributes, leading to attainment of the FACEM.

The FACEM Training Program assessments and requirements include:

• In-Training Assessments
• Structured References
• Workplace-based Assessments (WBAs)
• Research Requirement
• Paediatric Requirement
• Critical Care Requirement
• Special Skills Logbook/Learning Portfolio
• Primary Examinations (Written Examination and VIVA)
• Fellowship Examinations (Written Examination and OSCE).

Further information regarding FACEM Training Program assessment is available on the College website.

Details of College Fees can be found here.

In addition to the Fellowship of ACEM, other emergency medicine training programs are available for those wishing to practice in emergency departments:

• Emergency Medicine Certificate (EMC)
• Emergency Medicine Diploma (EMD)

The Emergency Medicine Certificate (EMC) and Emergency Medicine Diploma (EMD) are aimed at providing doctors working in Emergency Departments with adequate knowledge and sufficient clinical experience to be safe, efficient practitioners. These training programs benefit Career Medical Officers, Junior Medical Officers and Visiting Medical Officers, and General Practitioners.

Further details on the EMC and EMD.

Indigenous Mentoring Programs, networks, support programs etc

The ACEM Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees to progress through the ACEM training and assessment programs.

Manaaki Mana Strategy: The vision of this strategy is that emergency departments will provide excellent, culturally safe care to Māori, in an environment where Māori patients, whānau and staff feel valued, and where leaders actively seek to eliminate inequities.

ACEM has an Indigenous Health Subcommittee which is responsible for:

• Advising ACEM’s role in advocacy for issues that impact Indigenous health;
• Promoting the need for emergency medicine practitioners to provide culturally safe care to Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Maori patients, and for emergency departments to be culturally safe environments;
• Collaborating with the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA)
• Collaborating with TeORA (Maori Medical Practitioner’s Association of Aotearoa/New Zealand);
• Monitoring and promoting ACEM’s role in providing training and professional development in cultural competency;
• Ensuring ACEM representation on external bodies involved in Indigenous health and cultural competency;

College Scholarships

The Joseph Epstein Scholarship

This scholarship aims to increase the number of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori specialists in emergency medicine in Australia and New Zealand.

• Eligibility: Advanced trainees who are identify as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Māori
• Purpose: Encourage and support Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori doctors to undertake ACEM’s advanced training in the specialist emergency medicine training program.
• Scholarship: Fees of the Advanced Training Program, including the Fellowship Exam (Written and Clinical).
• Completion period: 10 years while the awardee remains an advanced trainee of the College.
• Number of Grants available: One per year.
• Nominations open: Always open

Further details on the Joseph Epstein Scholarship may be found here.

ACEM Foundation Conference Grant: Promoting Future Indigenous Leaders in Emergency Medicine

ACEM, along with the ACEM Foundation, acknowledge that increasing the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori health workforce is an essential step in reducing the current health disparities experienced by Indigenous people.

The grant aims to provide professional development and:

• Encourage the sharing of current knowledge and expertise in Emergency Medicine with Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori health practitioners
• Strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health practitioners
• Facilitate leadership development for Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori health practitioners.
• Eligibility: Medical practitioners, medical students, ACEM trainees, and other health professionals of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Māori descent.
• Purpose: To support attendance of either the ACEM Winter Symposium or the ACEM Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).
• Grant: Up to $5,000 with a maximum of $15,000 annually.
• Number of Grants available: $5,000 per recipient with a maximum of $15,000 awarded annually.
• Opening date: See College website for details.
• Closing date: See College website for details.

Further details on the ACEM Foundation Conference Grant: Promoting Future Indigenous Leaders in Emergency Medicine may be found here.

Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori health Research Award

Supporting and encouraging research into Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori health is an essential step in reducing current health disparities for Indigenous people and ensuring emergency departments are culturally safe places for Indigenous people to receive care, and be employed. This will ultimately lead to improved health outcomes, including reducing the disparity in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. The award will achieve this by:

• Fostering collaborative research partnerships that improve the cultural safety of emergency departments (EDs).
• Recognising the importance of participatory action research.
• Encouraging ACEM trainee interest (thereby increasing trainee exposure) in Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori research.

• Eligibility: trainees, and FACEMs
• Purpose: a published research paper or conference presentation to be most significant in the field of emergency medicine as it relates to Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Māori health
• Grant: Lump sum payment of AUD$1,000
• Number of Grants available: one
• Opening date: See website for details
• Closing date: See website for details.

Further details on the Research Award can be found here.

Financial Assistance

N/A