13. Fellowship Application

APPLYING FOR FELLOWSHIP

Registrars may apply for Fellowship once they have completed all Training Program requirements.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to apply and be awarded Fellowship, the Registrar must:

  • Have completed, at a satisfactory or higher level, all three stages of the Training Program
  • Have completed the Training Program in a minimum of 3 years and 7 months and maximum of 10 years full-time equivalent Training Program years
  • Have paid all prescribed College fees in full
  • Have no adverse findings determined, conditions placed on their practice or are under any investigation by any medical authority (including, but not limited to, AHPRA, MCNZ, the HIC, ACC, or hospital medical advisory committees)

*Extensions beyond the 10 years may be granted under exceptional circumstances, as conditioned, and approved by the Training Committee

APPROVALS

Application for Fellowship forms and complete online portfolios will be reviewed by the ACSEP staff. If all requirements have been completed, the approval form will be submitted for approval by the following groups and committees:

  • ACSEP Training Committee
  • ACSEP Research Committee
  • ACSEP Examination and Assessment Committee
  • ACSEP Finance
  • ACSEP Board of Directors 

The approvals process can take several weeks.

NEXT STEPS

Once Fellowship has been awarded:

  • The Registrar should attend the next ACSEP Annual Scientific Conference to be ceremonially presented with their Fellowship
  • Registrars should ensure they have any relevant copies of college paperwork from their online portfolio and SEM Academy as National Office closes online portfolio access
  • For Australian Registrars: The College contact AHPRA to advise of the Registrar's change of status to Fellow
  • For New Zealand Registrars: The College contact MCNZ and ACC to advise of the Registrar's change of status to Fellow
  • The Registrar must update their contact details with the College, must pay the oustanding pro rata amount of the ACSEP Fellowship membership fee for the financial year they attain fellowship in, and contact Medicare
  • The new Fellow commences the ACSEP CPD Program, can refer to themselves as a Sport and Exercise Physician and can use the term FACSEP

Tips for being recognised in Australia:

A note about Provider Numbers:

  • To be able to apply Medicare rebates for patients, the Registrar must have a Provider Number as allocated by Medicare. This Provider Number is location specific and has a different application process/allocation for Registrars and Fellows.
  • Registrars must apply for a Provider Number using the HW019 Medicare Form.  Within this form is a question asking if the applicant is on "an approved Section 3GA Program" which is asking if the applicant is on an approved training program/practice.  If they are, they must complete the College's 3GA form.  The 3GA form is created by the College and confirms that the Registrar is a trainee of that Program and is working within an approved Training Practice.  Both forms are submitted by the College to Medicare for processing, of which Medicare can take 3-8weeks to process.
  • When a Registrar becomes a Fellow, they must apply to Medicare to have their speciality recognised.  Medicare then converts their Provider Numbers from Registrar to being Speciality recognised.  This process can take 2-6 weeks.
  • Fellows apply for Provider Numbers themselves and only need to complete HW019 or can apply online.  The ACSEP has no involvement in this application process.

MBA/AHPRA:

  • New Fellows wanting to work in Australia must have their speciality recognised in Australia by the Medical Board of Australian (MBA) and Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).  One of the following forms must be completed and submitted to AHPRA along with the applicable fee:
    • Form ASPC-30 - For Fellows who already hold AHPRA recognition (ie, they already have an AHPRA number, eg Aussies)
    • Form AGPC-30 - For Fellows who do NOT already hold AHPRA recognition (ie, they do not already have an AHPRA number, eg NZers)
  • Applicants are required to submit their ACSEP letter of Fellowship to AHPRA as part of their application (AHPRA require a "certified" copy of your ACSEP Fellowship letter to be submitted as part of your submission - please ensure you get your letter "certified" before submitting it to AHPRA - read the info on the last page of their form).  A fee is payable to AHPRA and the process can take 1-3 weeks to complete (contact AHPRA for more exact timings, processing excluding holidays).

Medicare:

  • While submitting their paperwork for Speciality recognition to MBA/AHPRA, the Registrar can apply to Medicare to have their Speciality recognised and their Provider Number status changed from Trainee to Specialist recognised
  • The Fellow must complete the HW077 Form and submit it with their AHPRA Speciality Recognition and letter of ACSEP Fellowship to Medicare.
  • The HW077 Form advises Medicare that the Registrar is obtaining/has obtained Speciality status, and that their existing Registrar Provider Numbers can be converted over to Speciality status.

  • This process takes 1-3 weeks (contact Medicare for more exact timings, processing excluding holidays) and has a small fee payable to Medicare
  • If the New Fellow needs to start or extend/reopen a Provider Number, they may submit the paperwork at this time, and the applications will be processed "together".  The New Fellow needs to complete the HW019 form and submit it to Medicare for processing.

  • Registrars that are on any Medicare restrictions (such as the 19AB/10 Year Moratorium) should contact Medicare before submitting their Form to determine if they need to provide any extra information.
  • Once a Fellow, it is the Fellow's responsibility to manage their Provider Numbers.  Fellows can complete the HW019 Form for new or extending Provider Numbers and submit it to Medicare, or they may want to sign up to Medicare's Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) (or PRODA) system to manage their own Provider Numbers.  Allocating/extending Provider Numbers can take 3-6 weeks to process (contact Medicare for more exact timings, processing excluding holidays).

Tips for being recognised in New Zealand

Tips for MCNZ:

  • New Fellows wanting to work in New Zealand need to update their status with the Medical Council of New Zealand to being a VOC 1 Vocational (Specialist) recognition.
  • New Fellows needs to follow the steps and completed the relevant forms listed on the VOC 1 Vocational page.
  • This process takes 2-4 weeks and has a processing fee.
  • Applicants also need a HPI number (Common Person Number CPN), however the MCNZ will allocate this number with their registration.

Tips for ACC:

  • Once the new Fellow has obtained their Vocational Speciality from MCNZ, they need to contact the Accident and Compensation Commission (ACC) to have their Speciality recognised as a Physician.
  • New Fellow needs to follow the steps on the Register with us as a health provider page and complete the ACC24 Application to register as a health provider form.  This process takes 1-3 weeks and has no processing fee
  • New Fellows will also need to be included on a "Clinical Services Contract".  This can either be against an existing business or a new business.  As each contract set up is dependant on the working arrangements of that Fellow, it is best for the Fellow to contact ACC and discuss their set up with their local Provider/Engagement Manager.  Processing time and costs should be discussed with your Provider/Engagement Manager.