Written by admin 
Recruitment of VR GP vs Non-VR GP
GP Jobs in Australia
GP Jobs in Australia are in great demand. Gp Job for VR and Non VR GPs are available throughout Australia. However, what is the difference between VR and Non VR GP? Here is the summary:
The Australian Government introduced vocational registration program in 1989 to consider general practice as a specific specialty in its own right, to improve professional standards and to reward high-quality practice financially.
Between 1989 and 1995, Government allowed doctors already practising in general practices (and also meeting eligibility criteria) to apply to be grandfathered on to the Vocational Register (VR). The grandfathering scheme for the Vocational Register(VR) ended in late 1996. In mid 2010, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) introduced specialist registration of general practitioners who obtains Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP) or Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM); or on the General Practice Vocational Register.
The introduction of the Vocational Register eventually created two types of GPs: those who were vocationally registered (VR GPs) and those who were not (the Non-VR GPs). VR GPs have higher access to Medicare rebate (A1 rebate) and Non VR GPs can claim lower value A2 Medicare rebates. The A2 rebates were set originally at 93 per cent (7% less than of the A1 rebates) but have never been eligible for annual indexation and so are proportionally worth much less than A1 rebates at this time.
There are various programs available that offer Non VR GPs access to the A1 rebate, such as After Hours Other Medical Practitioners (AHOMPs) Programme which allow eligible Non VR GPs to access higher Medicare rebate for providing after hours general practice services through an accredited general practice or an accredited Medical Deputising Service (MDS). Normally non-vocationally recognised medical practitioners would access the lower Medicare rebate.
There has been demand for all kinds of doctors in Australia. However, VR GPs are in great demand till today. It is not only difficult to recruit VR GP, but it is expensive too. Recruitment agencies charge somewhere between 10 to 20K to help recruiting a VR GP. How many medical practices can afford to pay such a huge amount to recruitment agencies?
Online job board sites such as us provides an alternative option to recruit VR GP. Posting an advertisement can only cost minimal amount and the exposure among the potential doctors could be really good. It only takes one minute to post a GP Job on our site. As soon as the GP job advertisement is live, medical practices or companies can start receiving CVs from VR and Non-VR GPs immediately.
Non-VR GPs currently have the option to become vocationally registered by undertaking a structured training with either the Royal Australian College of General Practice (RACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM). Both colleges consider various factors before awarding formal fellowship to the doctor which includes their commitment to the profession, their past experience and their involvement in continuing professional development. The Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) program is an Australian Government initiative which provides training for registrars towards fellowship and gaining specialist (general practitioner) registration.
The AGPT program is three to four years of full-time training offered in urban, regional and rural locations nationally, delivered across 11 training regions in Australia.
There are nine training organisations who occupy these regions who deliver training towards two vocational endpoints recognised by Medicare Australia:
- Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP)
- Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM)
The RACGP also provides an alternative, a Practice Eligible Route to Fellowship, which is available to doctors who have at least four years of fulltime general practice experience with at least one of these years in Australia. Doctors following the Practice Eligible Route do a three part practice-based assessment of their skills before being awarded FRACGP. Likewise, ACCRM offers an Independent Pathway to Fellowship for experienced GPs.
Warning: Please note that there are many recent changes to Medicare provider number legislations including introducing new 3GA programs and cessation of few 3GA programs. Please consider the information on this page for general purpose only. For any up to date information about 19AB, DWS, 19AA, 3GA, RLRP,MDRAP, PEP, SAPP, AMDS etc, please refer to Medicare and Department of Health website as they are the best sources to get up to date information.