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How to Become an Occupational Physician in Australia

How to become an occupational & environmental physician in Australia through the AFOEM pathway, which has no Basic Physician Training or Divisional exams, runs on the job around a graduate diploma and AFOEM's own Stage A/B exams, and offers arguably the best lifestyle in specialty medicine.

The bottleneck isn't a selection panel. It's the job. You must already work at least 20 hours a week in an AFOEM-accredited occupational-medicine post (in industry, Defence, insurers or private clinics, not hospital rosters) before you can register as a trainee, getting your workplace accredited if it isn't. There's no published applicant-to-offer ratio, and you fund a postgrad diploma alongside.

Occupational & Environmental Medicine
RACP (AFOEM) · Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) within the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, leading to FAFOEM
Training length
3.5 (42 months FTE certified training, Stages A+B+C), after ≥2 postgraduate years; up to 10 years allowed to finish
Competitiveness
Lowself-directed entry
Exams
AFOEM Stage A Written (120 one-correct MCQ) + Stage B Written (2 scenario short-answer papers over 2 days) + Stage B Practical (6 stations across exhibit, clinical and OSCE formats)
Lifestyle
One of the best in medicine. Largely 9-to-5, office-/industry-based, with minimal acute on-call and no nights
Fellowship
FAFOEM (Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine), RACP
Time to qualify
~7–9 years from internship (commonly later, via GP or another specialty)

Why occupational & environmental medicine

Almost entirely outpatient and business-hours, mostly outside hospitals. A typical week mixes fitness-for-work and pre-employment assessments, managing injured workers back to work after illness or injury, impairment and permanent-impairment assessments, independent medical examinations (IMEs) and medicolegal reports for insurers, courts and tribunals, health surveillance for hazardous exposures (noise, silica, lead, solvents, asbestos), and advising employers, regulators and government on workplace and environmental health risk. Many OEPs run or lead a multidisciplinary occupational health team within an employer or consultancy. There is essentially no acute ward work, no nights and minimal on-call. The workforce averages around 32.5 hours a week, the lowest-intensity roster profile of almost any specialty.

✓ Draws
  • Outstanding lifestyle, predominantly Monday-to-Friday and daytime, with no nights and little to no acute on-call
  • No Basic Physician Training and no Divisional exam, so you skip the brutal RACP BPT bottleneck entirely
  • You're a paid employee in a real OEM job from day one of training, not an unaccredited registrar hoping for a number
  • Highly portable, business-friendly skill set: industry, insurers, Defence, government, consultancy and medicolegal work all want you
  • Small, collegiate faculty and a workforce in genuine shortage, which makes for a clear path to consultant-level autonomy
⚖ Trade-offs
  • Nobody hands you a job, so you must find and fund your own training position (≥20 hrs/week, AFOEM-accredited) and a university graduate diploma
  • Earnings sit below the proceduralists and high-end physicians; the work is cognitive/medicolegal, not procedurally billable
  • Heavy medicolegal and insurer-facing workload, with lots of report-writing, and you're often the doctor in an adversarial compensation system
  • Tiny, ageing workforce (53.5% aged 60+) means fewer mentors, smaller training networks and patchy exposure outside the big cities
  • Limited acute/hospital medicine means skills narrow quickly, so pivoting back to inpatient work later is hard

Subspecialties

Workers' compensation and return-to-work / disability medicineIndependent medical examination (IME) and medicolegal / impairment assessmentOccupational toxicology, exposure assessment and health surveillanceAviation, mining, maritime and Defence / military occupational medicineEnvironmental medicine and public/population workplace health, hazard regulation and policy

The training pathway

The same fellowship, two very different timelines. The fast route assumes everything goes right; most people land on the realistic one.

Fastest route
~5.5 years from internship
Structural floor if you land a qualifying OEM job early, enrol in the graduate diploma straight away, and pass every AFOEM exam first attempt. Assumes you meet the ≥2 postgraduate-year minimum and never stop full-time-equivalent training.
Internship (PGY1)
1 yr
General registration with AHPRA. Counts toward the 2 full-time years of postgraduate general clinical experience AFOEM requires before entering Stage A.
Resident / PGY2 + secure an accredited OEM job
1 yr
Finish the minimum 2 postgraduate years, then get hired into an AFOEM-accredited position doing ≥20 hrs/week of occupational medicine and apply for (or enrol in) a graduate diploma. This is the real gate.
Stage A ('The basics') + Stage A Written exam
1 yr
Register as an AFOEM trainee; minimum 12 months. Eligible to sit the 120-MCQ Stage A Written after a minimum 6 months completed and certified Stage A training.
Stage B ('Learning the ropes') + Stage B Written & Practical exams
2 yrs
Minimum 24 months. Stage B Written (2 scenario short-answer papers over 2 consecutive days) and Stage B Practical (6 stations: 2 exhibit-based, 2 clinical, 2 OSCE) are both sat after a minimum 18 months certified Stage B training. The graduate diploma must be completed during training as required by the Faculty Training Committee.
Stage C ('Approaching consultancy') + FAFOEM
0.5 yr
Minimum 6 months consolidating independent practice, then Fellowship of AFOEM and specialist registration. 42 months FTE certified training in total across A+B+C.
Realistic route
~7–9 years from internship (commonly later, via GP or another specialty)
How most people actually get here. Many OEPs come across after years in general practice, emergency or internal medicine, often part-time around other work, and the graduate diploma plus exam attempts stretch the timeline. The 10-year maximum to complete training exists precisely because the part-time, mid-career route is the norm.
Internship + residency (PGY1–PGY3+)
2–3 yrs
Build broad clinical experience. Many doctors do considerably more, such as a full GP/ACRRM/RACGP fellowship or RACP Basic Training, before turning to OEM.
Break into occupational medicine
1–3 yrs
Find an employer (insurer, mining/aviation/Defence, OEM consultancy) and a role that reaches ≥20 hrs/week of accredited OEM practice. Often this means a gradual shift from GP or sessional IME work. The hardest and least-defined step.
Graduate diploma + Stage A training & exam
1.5–2 yrs
Enrol in (you need only have applied to start) and progress a university graduate diploma in occupational/environmental health alongside Stage A training; sit Stage A Written. Often done part-time.
Stage B training + Written & Practical exams
2–3 yrs
Minimum 24 months but frequently longer part-time; resits of the Stage B Written or Practical add time. The diploma must be finished during training (the Faculty Training Committee sets the requirement), not left open-ended.
Stage C + FAFOEM
0.5–1 yr
Consolidation and Fellowship. Entry to non-procedural consultant OEM work in clinics, consultancies, insurers, Defence and regulators is generally good given the workforce shortage.

How competitive is it?

Entry is gated by getting hired into an accredited position, decided employer-by-employer (mining, aviation, Defence, insurers, OEM consultancies). No national applicant-to-offer ratio is published and there is no centralised selection round. Demand-side, this is a workforce in genuine shortage: the last national factsheet counted just 274 specialists, with 53.5% aged 60 or over and 64.1% intending to retire within ten years, and only 8–9 new Fellows admitted nationally per year (totals of 8, 9 and 9 across 2013, 2014 and 2015). So while almost nobody is turned away by a scored panel, the field stays small because relatively few doctors discover it, fund the graduate diploma, and engineer themselves a qualifying job. Get those pieces in place and your odds of completing and finding consultant work are good.

Unaccredited time: Not applicable in the usual sense. There is no 'unaccredited registrar' tier and no competitive accredited-post intake. The real prerequisite is independently securing an AFOEM-accredited paid OEM job (≥20 hrs/week) plus applying for a university graduate diploma before you can register as a trainee.

Sources: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, RACP Advanced Training overview, Dept of Health occupational & environmental medicine workforce factsheet (2016 NHWDS data, published Oct 2017), RACP AFOEM accredited training settings list (last updated June 2026).

Selection criteria & how to apply

There is no national scored selection rubric for AFOEM occupational and environmental medicine, and no published percentage weightings, so the items below are eligibility prerequisites and qualitative assessments, not points. 'Selection' here means meeting the entry criteria and being hired into an accredited position by an employer; the faculty then approves your training, it doesn't rank applicants against each other. New and continuing trainees must apply for Advanced Training each year (deadlines 30 November for a 1 January start, 30 May for a 1 July start).

Medical registration & postgraduate experienceEligibility
General medical registration (AHPRA in Australia, or equivalent in Aotearoa New Zealand) plus at least 2 full-time-equivalent years of postgraduate general clinical experience before entering Stage A.
AFOEM-accredited training position (≥20 hrs/week)Eligibility
You must already be working a minimum of 20 hours per week of occupational and environmental medicine practice in an AFOEM-accredited position. No accreditation, no training. Securing this job is the real hurdle.
University postgraduate qualification (graduate diploma or higher)Eligibility
To enter, you must have applied for (intending to enrol in and continue) or completed an appropriate graduate diploma (or higher) in occupational and environmental health or a related field deemed appropriate by the Faculty Training Committee. You need only have applied to start; the qualification must be completed during training as required by the Faculty Training Committee.
Educational Supervisor (AFOEM Fellow)Eligibility
An approved Educational Supervisor who is a Fellow of AFOEM must oversee your training plan and certify your six-monthly trainee status reports; the arrangement is approved by the relevant regional Training Program Director.
Stage A Written ExaminationAssessed
120 one-correct (Type A) MCQs over 3 hours (plus 15 minutes reading), sat after a minimum 6 months completed and certified Stage A training. Assesses core scientific and clinical foundations of OEM. Capped at 3 attempts for trainees who commenced from 2019 (5 attempts for those before 2019).
Stage B Written & Practical ExaminationsAssessed
Stage B Written = 2 scenario-based short-answer papers over 2 consecutive days (each paper has 5 equally-weighted scenario questions); Stage B Practical = 6 stations (2 exhibit-based assessment, 2 clinical, 2 OSCE), pass requires at least 4 of 6 including at least one of each station type. Both sat after a minimum 18 months completed and certified Stage B training.
Work-based learning & training reviewsAssessed
Completion of 42 months FTE certified training across Stages A, B and C, with work-based assessment tools, training review meetings and six-monthly status reports rather than a single exit hurdle.

Key documents: RACP Occupational and Environmental Medicine Advanced Training (entry, stages, deadlines), RACP postgraduate qualification guidelines (graduate diploma requirements), RACP AFOEM Stage A Written Examination, RACP AFOEM Stage B Practical Examination.

Preparing your application? See how specialty selection actually works — structured panels, MMIs, referee reports and scored CVs — and how to prepare for each.

How OEM training is organised by state and territory

Unlike hospital-based specialties, AFOEM training isn't run by state health-department recruitment campaigns or computer matches. It's organised faculty-wide by RACP, with a regional Training Program Director (TPD) in each jurisdiction who is your first point of contact, approves your training plan and supports recruitment. Your 'placement' is wherever your accredited employer is, whether that is a mining health service, an airline, a Defence base, an insurer or a private OEM clinic. The state picture below is really about where those accredited employers and TPDs sit, not about advertised registrar positions. State health departments do publish OEM career information, but the position itself comes from industry, not the public hospital roster. No per-state applicant-to-offer figures are published.
NSW No centrally advertised registrar intake. The NSW Health workforce factsheet (published November 2018, 2015 data) recorded 75 OEM specialists in NSW and advanced-trainee headcounts of 26 (2015), 23 (2016) and 21 (2017); no current applicant-to-offer ratio is published.

Who runs selection: Largest OEM concentration in the country. The last national factsheet put 29.4% of OEM specialists in NSW. Training is coordinated by the AFOEM NSW Training Program Director rather than a state health network, with accredited employers spread across Sydney and the regions (coal/mining health services in the Hunter and west, aviation, Defence and national OEM consultancies).

Where to apply: AFOEM NSW Training Program Director (RACP) / NSW Health career information — application portal.

Positions: No centrally advertised registrar intake. The NSW Health workforce factsheet (published November 2018, 2015 data) recorded 75 OEM specialists in NSW and advanced-trainee headcounts of 26 (2015), 23 (2016) and 21 (2017); no current applicant-to-offer ratio is published.

Worth knowing: Strong coal-and-mining occupational health presence (e.g. Coal Services Health across Gunnedah, Mudgee, Lithgow, Singleton, Woonona) alongside aviation (CASA, Qantas), Defence (RAAF Williamtown) and consultancies (IMMEX, Jobfit, Sonic HealthPlus), so jobs are genuinely industry-based, not hospital-based.

Links: NSW Health occupational and environmental medicine career page, Medical Workforce in NSW: Occupational and Environmental Medicine factsheet, NSW Health (Nov 2018, 2015 data), RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs).

VIC Not published as a per-state figure; entry is via securing an accredited employer, not a Victorian intake round.

Who runs selection: Second-largest OEM workforce (around a fifth of national specialists by the last factsheet). Coordinated by the AFOEM Victoria Training Program Director; accredited positions sit in private OEM consultancies, insurers and industry across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Victoria and Tasmania are commonly grouped for AFOEM activities.

Where to apply: AFOEM Victoria Training Program Director (RACP) — application portal.

Positions: Not published as a per-state figure; entry is via securing an accredited employer, not a Victorian intake round.

Worth knowing: No PMCV-style computer match applies to OEM. Unlike Victoria's hospital-based physician training, the occupational pathway is faculty-run and employer-driven.

Links: RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs), RACP Occupational and Environmental Medicine (entry & application).

QLD No centralised intake or published ratio; the resources industry and FIFO occupational-health roles are a notable source of accredited positions.

Who runs selection: Lowest specialist-to-population ratio in the country at the last count (0.6 OEM specialists per 100,000), despite Queensland's large resources sector, so the demand is real. Coordinated by the AFOEM Queensland Training Program Director; accredited jobs concentrate in mining/resources health, Defence and consultancies across Brisbane and regional/remote sites.

Where to apply: AFOEM Queensland Training Program Director (RACP) / Queensland Health careers — application portal.

Positions: No centralised intake or published ratio; the resources industry and FIFO occupational-health roles are a notable source of accredited positions.

Worth knowing: Strong mining, resources and remote-industry demand makes Queensland a good place to build the 20-hours-a-week accredited practice, but you'll often be the only OEP for a long way, so mentorship can be thin.

Links: Queensland Health occupational and environmental medicine career profile, RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs).

SA Not published as a per-state figure; entry is by securing an accredited employer.

Who runs selection: Above-average specialist density (about 1.7 per 100,000 by the last factsheet's chart, second only to the ACT). Coordinated by the AFOEM South Australia Training Program Director; accredited positions sit in Adelaide-based consultancies, insurers, Defence and industry.

Where to apply: AFOEM South Australia Training Program Director (RACP) — application portal.

Positions: Not published as a per-state figure; entry is by securing an accredited employer.

Worth knowing: Defence and defence-industry occupational health is a meaningful employer in SA; the small community means the regional TPD is the practical way in.

Links: RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs), RACP Occupational and Environmental Medicine (entry & application).

WA No centralised intake or published ratio; mining/resources and FIFO occupational medicine are a major source of accredited jobs.

Who runs selection: High specialist density (around 1.4 per 100,000 by the last factsheet's chart) driven by the mining and resources economy. Coordinated by the AFOEM Western Australia Training Program Director; accredited positions are heavily weighted toward resources-sector occupational health, plus Defence and consultancies in Perth.

Where to apply: AFOEM Western Australia Training Program Director (RACP) / PMCWA careers — application portal.

Positions: No centralised intake or published ratio; mining/resources and FIFO occupational medicine are a major source of accredited jobs.

Worth knowing: Arguably the strongest jobs market for OEM in the country because of mining. Pre-employment, fitness-for-work, exposure surveillance and remote-site medicine are core business for WA employers.

Links: Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Postgraduate Medical Council of WA, RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs).

TAS Not published; accredited positions in Tasmania are few, so many Tasmanian-based trainees connect through the Victorian network.

Who runs selection: Very small OEM workforce; Tasmania is generally grouped with Victoria for AFOEM training activities and exam preparation. There is no dedicated Tasmanian intake, so trainees rely on the regional TPD network and any accredited employer in-state.

Where to apply: AFOEM (Victoria/Tasmania) Training Program Director (RACP) — application portal.

Positions: Not published; accredited positions in Tasmania are few, so many Tasmanian-based trainees connect through the Victorian network.

Worth knowing: Thin local presence means you may need to build links interstate; the upside is the work is portable and much of it (reports, telehealth assessments) isn't tied to a hospital.

Links: RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs), RACP Occupational and Environmental Medicine (entry & application).

ACT Not published as a per-state figure; accredited settings include Commonwealth agencies (Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Department of Home Affairs) and a Canberra OEM clinic (Sonic Health Plus Canberra).

Who runs selection: Highest specialist-to-population ratio in the country at the last count (2.0 per 100,000), reflecting the concentration of Commonwealth employers. Coordinated through the AFOEM regional TPD network; accredited positions cluster around federal agencies and aviation/transport regulators.

Where to apply: AFOEM Training Program Director network (RACP) — application portal.

Positions: Not published as a per-state figure; accredited settings include Commonwealth agencies (Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Department of Home Affairs) and a Canberra OEM clinic (Sonic Health Plus Canberra).

Worth knowing: Government and aviation/transport regulation make Canberra unusually OEM-dense for its size, and it is strong for policy, regulatory and aviation-medicine flavoured training.

Links: RACP AFOEM accredited training settings list (includes ACT employers), RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs).

NT Not published; accredited positions in the NT are sparse and tied to resources, Defence and remote-health employers.

Who runs selection: The smallest jurisdiction for OEM, with very few specialists. There is no dedicated NT training structure; prospective trainees work through the broader AFOEM regional TPD network and whatever accredited employer (typically resources, Defence or remote-industry health) they can secure.

Where to apply: AFOEM Training Program Director network (RACP) — application portal.

Positions: Not published; accredited positions in the NT are sparse and tied to resources, Defence and remote-health employers.

Worth knowing: Remote and resources-sector occupational medicine is the realistic niche; expect to rely heavily on interstate supervision and the faculty network given how few local OEPs there are.

Links: RACP AFOEM Training Program Committee (regional TPDs), RACP Occupational and Environmental Medicine (entry & application).

How to optimise your application

Because there's no competitive scored intake, the usual levers (a stacked CV, audits, a research year to win a number) matter far less here than in cardiology or surgery. What actually unblocks this pathway is getting employed in the right setting and getting the academic prerequisite under way. Everything below is aimed at those two things, plus de-risking the exams.
  • Get into an accredited OEM employer early (tied to AFOEM-accredited training position (≥20 hrs/week), start PGY2–PGY3, or whenever you decide to switch from GP/another specialty) — Target the employers that actually hold accreditation: mining/coal health services (e.g. Coal Services Health), aviation (CASA, Qantas), Defence/RAAF health units (e.g. RAAF Williamtown), workers-comp insurers, and national OEM consultancies (Sonic HealthPlus, Jobfit, IMMEX and similar). All of them appear on RACP's accredited-settings list. Contact the regional Training Program Director before you job-hunt; they know which local positions are accredited or accreditable. If your prospective role isn't accredited, get the employer to submit the accreditation assessment form.
  • Apply for the graduate diploma sooner rather than later (tied to University postgraduate qualification (applied for to enter; must be completed during training), start As soon as you're committed to OEM, since you only need to have applied/enrolled to start training) — Pick a course that satisfies the Faculty Training Committee's content requirements (occupational hazards, risk assessment and management, research methods/epidemiology, occupational hygiene and hazard control, occupational health-and-safety law, and environmental medicine). Doing it part-time alongside Stage A/B work keeps it from becoming the thing that stalls your progression, and a research-based masters extension can double as your Advanced Training research requirement.
  • Use a GP or broad clinical base as your on-ramp (tied to Postgraduate experience & alternative Stage B entry, start Mid-career or after initial vocational training) — OEM welcomes mid-career entrants. RACGP/RNZCGP/ACRRM Fellowship or RACP Basic Training can satisfy the alternative entry requirements into Stage B, and a GP background plus some sessional IME or medicolegal work is a natural, low-risk way to build toward the 20-hours-a-week threshold while you confirm the field suits you.
  • Build medicolegal and report-writing skill deliberately (tied to Stage B Practical & day-to-day consultant work, start Throughout Stage A and B training) — The Stage B Practical tests occupational history-taking, examination and exhibit-based judgement, and the consultant job is heavy on IMEs and reports for insurers, courts and tribunals. Seek supervised exposure to impairment assessment, return-to-work planning and independent medical examinations early. It both passes the exam and makes you immediately employable.

Key documents & official links

Model what you'd earn

Take-home pay calculator registrar award pay after tax, by state

FAQ

How long does it take to become an occupational physician?
Training years: 3.5 (42 months FTE certified training, Stages A+B+C), after ≥2 postgraduate years; up to 10 years allowed to finish. That is accredited college training alone; it starts after medical school, internship and any prevocational years the college requires, and the pathway section above shows realistic end-to-end timelines from internship.
How long does it take to become an occupational and environmental medicine physician?
The training itself is 42 months (3.5 years) of full-time-equivalent certified training across AFOEM's three stages (Stage A minimum 12 months, Stage B minimum 24 months, Stage C minimum 6 months), after at least 2 postgraduate years. In practice the floor is around 5.5 years from internship if everything goes perfectly, but most people take longer, often 7–9 years, because they come across mid-career from GP or another specialty, train part-time around other work, and complete a university graduate diploma along the way. AFOEM allows up to 10 years to finish, which tells you how common the slower, part-time route is.
Do I have to do Basic Physician Training (BPT) first?
No, and this is the big difference from most RACP specialties. OEM has no Basic Physician Training and no Divisional written/clinical exam. You enter AFOEM's own program directly once you have general registration, at least 2 postgraduate years, an accredited OEM job and have applied for (or completed) a relevant graduate diploma. Having done RACP Basic Training, or holding RACGP/RNZCGP/ACRRM Fellowship, can satisfy the alternative entry requirements into Stage B, but it isn't required to start.
Is occupational and environmental medicine hard to get into?
Not in the way cardiology or surgery are. There is no scored panel and no central intake. The genuine difficulty is that qualifying jobs sit in industry (mining, aviation, Defence, insurers, OEM consultancies) rather than hospital rosters, so you must find one yourself and fund a university graduate diploma. Clear those two hurdles and very few people are turned away. See the Competitiveness section for workforce figures.
What exams do I have to pass?
Three AFOEM assessments. The Stage A Written is a 3-hour, 120-question one-correct (Type A) MCQ exam covering the scientific and clinical foundations of OEM (sat after at least 6 months of certified Stage A training; capped at 3 attempts for trainees who started from 2019, 5 for those before). The Stage B Written is two scenario-based short-answer papers over two consecutive days (five equally-weighted scenarios per paper), and the Stage B Practical is six stations (two exhibit-based, two clinical, two OSCE) where you need to pass at least 4 of 6 including at least one of each type. The Stage B exams are sat after a minimum of 18 months of certified Stage B training.
How much do occupational and environmental medicine physicians earn?
There's no ATO code or college survey specific to occupational medicine, so the closest anchor is the ATO's blended 'specialist physician – other' code (ANZSCO 253399), where occupational physicians fall: in 2023–24 that group of 1,975 averaged $343,479 taxable income (median $304,555). Treat that as a proxy across many small physician specialties, measured after deductions, rather than as a salary. More telling is the composition: the salary/wage component averaged only $236,711, so a salaried occupational physician (mining/resources, Defence, insurers, large consultancies) typically sits in the low-to-mid $200,000s, and the gap up to the average is non-salary IME and medicolegal work. Independent medical exams are billed per assessment, and under WorkSafe Victoria's 1 November 2025 schedule a standard specialist IME and report is capped at $1,882.08 + GST (complex $2,300.32 + GST), so a high-throughput IME practice can earn well above the salaried figure.
What is the lifestyle actually like?
One of the best in medicine. The work is overwhelmingly outpatient and business-hours, with no nights and minimal on-call (national workforce averages ~32.5 hrs/week). The trade-off is heavy report-writing and a medicolegal/insurer-facing load; see Day-to-day and Suits sections for detail.
Can overseas-trained occupational physicians get recognised in Australia?
Yes, through the RACP/AMC Specialist Pathway with AFOEM as the assessing faculty. The AMC verifies your qualifications, you lodge an RACP Overseas Trained Physician application (2026 initial fee AUD $1,096), and a panel of Fellows interviews you for about an hour to decide whether you're substantially comparable (up to 12 months FTE of peer review), partially comparable (up to 24 months FTE of supervised practice, possibly with further training and assessment), or not comparable (can't progress on this pathway). AFOEM may also require the faculty exit examination and/or a period of peer-reviewed practice before you're awarded FAFOEM.

Trained overseas? (IMG pathway)

How overseas-trained occupational & environmental medicine doctors get recognised

Overseas-trained occupational physicians who want specialist recognition in Australia go through the RACP/AMC Specialist Pathway, with AFOEM as the assessing body. The AMC first does primary source verification (PSV) of your qualifications; you then lodge an RACP Overseas Trained Physician (OTP) application (2026 initial application fee AUD $1,096 incl. GST), and a panel of RACP/AFOEM Fellows interviews you by video (about an hour) to judge how comparable your training and consultant experience are to an Australian-trained OEM physician. The Assessment Committee returns one of three findings: substantially comparable (at the standard of an Australian-trained specialist commencing practice; up to 12 months FTE of peer review), partially comparable (able to reach the standard within a maximum 24 months FTE of supervised practice, which may include further training and assessment), or not comparable (unable to reach comparability within 24 months FTE; cannot progress on this pathway). AFOEM may also require you to sit the faculty exit (Stage B) examination and/or complete a period of peer-reviewed practice before Fellowship.

See the RACP Standard Specialist Assessment Pathway (international medical graduates) and our IMG internship guide.

Public Health Medicine RACP (AFPHM)General Practice RACGP / ACRRMRehabilitation Medicine AFRM (RACP)Sport & Exercise Medicine ACSEPMedical Administration RACMA

Last reviewed 2026-08-06.

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