History of the Rural Generalist Pathway

Rural Generalist Medicine was founded in Queensland as a generalist discipline in medicine in August 2005 by a group of key stakeholders who convened in Roma to develop the concept of a supported training pathway to a career in rural medicine. Click on the link for a brief history of the Rural Generalist Pathway.

As a result of the Medical Officers' (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (No.1) 2005, Rural Generalist Medicine was recognised by the State as a generalist discipline in May 2008.

A Rural Generalist is defined as a rural medical practitioner who is credentialed to serve in :

hospital and community-based primary medical practice; and
hospital-based secondary medical practice, without supervision by a medical specialist in at least one specialist medical discipline (commonly but not limited to obstetrics, anaesthetics and surgery); and
hospital and community-based public health practice

Data to date

The RGP currently supports:

41 post graduate year 1 trainees
38 post graduate year 2 trainees
38 post graduate year 3 trainees
22 post graduate year 4 trainees
47 post graduate year 5+ trainees

In 2012, entry to the RGP via the undergraduate entry process now accommodates 45 graduates; an increase of 15 additional quarantined Rural Generalist Intern training positions from our original cohort in 2007.

Last Updated: 14 February 2012
Last Reviewed: 07 January 2011