BPT Recruitment Basics

All eligible basic physician trainees must apply for positions in Victoria through a statewide job match, which assigns candidates to employing health services based on their mutual preferences, and is administered by the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV).  Eligibility criteria for entering the PMCV match may be found here.  For jobs in the 2009 clinical year, the match closes on 14 August 2008. 

Any vacancies remaining after the PMCV match will be offered to suitable doctors who have not obtained a position through the match, or who are not eligible to enter the match.

Regardless of status within or outside of the match, all applicants additionally need to submit applications and curriculum vitae to the individual employing health services.  In the Greater Western Consortium, the employing health services are: 

• Melbourne Health - submit an online application here or visit the Melbourne Health website;
• Western Health - submit an online application here or the Western Health website; and 
• Ballarat Health Service - visit the Ballarat Health Service website.

Interviewing and selection criteria

The interviewing and selection process for the recruitment of basic physician trainees for the 2009 clinical year will be Consortium-based.  Interviews will be conducted by physicians and medical administrators representing the Consortium Secretariat and member health services, and will be conducted once only for all applicants.  The results will be used by all three employing health services in the Greater Western Consortium.

BPT Recruitment Terminology

Three terms relating to the recruitment of basic physician trainees often cause confusion: "BPT" year, "PGY" and "HMO or Medical Registrar".

BPT year refers to the year of basic physician training according to the RACP.  BPT1 thus refers to the first year of basic physician training (when registration with the RACP is voluntary), BPT2 refers to the second year of basic physician training (when registration is compulsory) and BPT3+ refers to the third or subsequent year of basic physician training (when trainees sit their examinations).

PGY (Post-Graduate Year) refers to the number of full-time years (or equivalent) that a doctor has engaged in clinical work after graduation from medical school.  For instance, PGY3 is the third full-time year (or equivalent) that a doctor has been in clinical practice since his/her graduation from medical school.

HMO (Hospital Medical Officer) jobs refer to hospital doctor positions that generally have a higher degree of supervision, usually by a Registrar and a Consultant, than Medical Registrar jobs.  A number may follow the acronym "HMO" to denote the number of full-time years (or equivalent) of clinical experience that is suitable for employment in the job.  Hence, a HMO3 job is suitable for a doctor in their third full-time year (or equivalent) of clinical practice.

While there is often correlation between the terms, e.g.: a BPT2 (a doctor in the second year of basic physician training) is often a PGY3 (a doctor in the third full-time year or equivalent of clinical practice) working in a HMO3 job (a position suitable for a PGY3) - differing individual career paths and hospital rostering practices may break this pattern.  For instance, a PGY5 who has worked in various clinical jobs may be enrolled as a BPT2 with the RACP, but on account of his/her pre-basic physician training clinical experience may be working as a General Medical Registrar.

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