Overview | Eligibility | Apply | Selection

Overview

The Top End Health Service covers a large and diverse geographical region with a multicultural population. The service provides care to aboriginal patients from a wide variety of cultural and language backgrounds.

As a trainee, you're expected to participate in remote secondments.

Top End Health Service offers a remote setting, where you'll be faced with the difficulties of a resource-limited environment and its impact on patient care.

Top End Basic Physician Training (BPT) positions are available across:

• Top End Health facility’s Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH)
• Palmerston Regional Hospital (PRH)
• Katherine District Hospital (KDH)
• Gove District Hospital (GDH)

PRH and KDH are secondment hospitals of Royal Darwin Hospital. Gove district hospital supplies a non-core general practice rotation for basic physician trainees as part of the overall Top End basic physician training program.

The aim of the training program is to produce well-rounded physician trainees who are particularly competent within a rural and remote Australian setting.

Royal Darwin is a level 3 accredited teaching hospital. Entry into basic training may be in PGY 2 or 3 year depending on prior experience and general readiness to enter training. 

If you end up within the Top End Health Service (TEHS) training program, you’ll have access to a variety of specialties within the unique generalist setting of Nhulunbuy (GDH), including:

• cardiology
• nephrology
• respiratory
• infectious diseases
• drug and alcohol
• general medicine
• oncology
• palliative care
• intensive care
• gastroenterology
• neurology
• geriatrics

Remote general medicine in Katherine, general practice nights and relieving work is also part of basic physician training. You may also choose to have a broad Junior Medical Officer (JMO) experience and undertake terms in the emergency department (ED). Paediatrics or obstetrics and gynaecology are subject to availability of those terms and whether the training has selected a streamed or non-streamed pathway.

If part of the TEHS, you may be seconded out to rural placements earlier in your training period and brought back into RDH leading up to the written and clinical examination.

Recruitment cycle

The annual recruitment drive is in May but continues throughout the year (12 months).

Eligibility

You’ll need to meet requirements before commencing:

• a medical degree accredited by the Australian Medical Council (AMC)
• general medical registration with the Medical Board of Australia.

Apply

Entry into the Top End BPT scheme is based on merit. The ability to manage challenging medical and psychosocial dynamics across differing health literacy domains and languages is a key attribute.

There is an annual and a continual recruitment cycle for Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) wishing to apply to the TEHS and Central Australia Health Service (CAHS) the various specialties.

Note: The application process for TEHS and CAHS requires separate applications.

TEHS applicants need to clearly state they are applying for a basic physician training position in their expression of interest letter.

To apply, submit your application to the Division of Medicine.

Selection

Selection into training is based on:

• curriculum vitae
• at least 2 consultant referee reports
• an interview with the DPE, another divisional Specialist and an administrative representative from the Division of Medicine.

Referees will be asked standard questions about your:

• clinical work
• reliability
• ability to work within a team
• perceived ability to engage with a demanding training program

You’ll be assessed on:

• your aptitude for entry into and engagement with training
• interest in medicine as a discipline
• demonstrated respect for patients
• ability to work within and manage a team

Related information

For further information, visit Medicine positions in TEHS.

Contact Colleen Fuda for further information about NT Basic Trainee (Adult Internal Medicine) program information.

Contact Member Services for more information about RACP orientation evenings.