Adult Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine is a medical specialty involving care for patients with acute illness or injuries which require urgent medical attention. Emergency Physicians are involved in the prevention, diagnosis and management of a variety of illnesses and undertake acute interventions to resuscitate and stabilise patients, while arranging for transfer to definitive care. Emergency Physicians practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings and other locations where initial medical treatment of illness or injury takes place.
Advantages of starting a career at TPCH
- Dedicated training days for Registrars
- Access to high fidelity simulation
- Primary and Fellowship exam preparation programs
- Access to 6 month rotation in Paediatric Emergency
- Access to non-ED rotations, including ICU, Anaesthetics, General Medicine and Medical Education
- Broad ED case-mix, including high acuity adult & paediatric patients
Training Overview
Entry requirements to Training Program
- General Registration in Australia or New Zealand is required from 1 January 2014
- Registration as a trainee with Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM)
Overview of Training Program
Basic Training:
- Complete 24 months prevocational clinical training (including Internship)
- May sit the ACEM Primary Examination*
Provisional Training:
- Minimum 12 months
- Structured references based on 6 months ED experience at a single site
- Completion of ACEM Primary Examination
- Maximum of 5 years to complete Provisional Training
Advanced Training:
- 48 months of training# (30 months of ED and 18 months of non-ED, for example, Medicine, Anaesthetics, ICU, Retrieval)
- Trainee Research requirement
- Minimum paediatric requirement
- ACEM Fellowship Examination
* ACEM Primary Examination can be sat at any time during Basic or Provisional Training
# Trainees have 12 years to complete training and achieve election to Fellowship from the date of commencement as a Provisional Trainee.
What rotations are recommended prior to applying for training
- Broad exposure to multiple specialties as a junior doctor is recommended
How to improve your chances of selection
- No specific courses or research required
Frequently Asked Questions
- Multidisciplinary team environment
- Diverse case-mix
- Challenge & variety
- Flexible work options – public or private sector, full or part time
- Good opportunities for international work (ACEM is joint college for Australia & NZ)
- Communication skills
- Team work & leadership skills
- Ability to work in high pressure environment
- Ability to multi-task
- Shift work – ED rosters are 24 hours, 7 days/week
- ED Consultants may work night shifts in some EDs, or on-call overnight in others.
Obtain some experience working in EDs of varying size (eg metropolitan vs regional) to get a feel for what it is like working in ED. Not all EDs are the same.
A broad exposure to many specialty areas as a junior doctor is always beneficial.
ACEM allows some interruption to training for extended leave, travel & parenting commitments. ACEM is supportive of part time training. (Refer to ACEM website for further details)
The requirements of shift work can be challenging, although personally it has provided a level of flexibility for my family by allowing my work to occur outside of the usual Mon-Fri working week.
It has provided me and my family with ample opportunity to travel, both within Australia and internationally, during my training and career as an ED consultant.
- High pressure work environment
- Shift work
Contact us
Medical Education Unit
Email: TPCH-Medical-Education@health.qld.gov.au
Phone: (07) 3139 4221
Educational Supervisors:
Dr Neil Grant, Director of Emergency Medicine Training
Dr Laura Wee, Director of Emergency Medicine Training
Editor: Dr Melanie Rule