A Rural Generalist is a medical practitioner who is trained to meet the specific current and future healthcare needs of Australian rural and remote communities, in a sustainable and cost-effective way, by providing both comprehensive General Practice and emergency care and required components of other medical specialty care in hospital and community settings as part of a rural healthcare team.

Rural Generalist Medicine is a specific approach to General Practice that is particularly relevant to rural and remote communities. The Rural Generalist Medicine body of skills incorporates the skillset of General Practice and is specifically shaped to optimise medical service capacity in rural and remote clinical contexts.

As rural and remote settings are characterised by their restricted access to the range of services, staff and resources available in urban centres, Rural Generalists are skilled to perform a broad range of medical services, including some skills, ordinarily within the province of other specialties. They are trained to apply these services effectively in a low resource environment, including working in local healthcare teams and providing local medical leadership in managing patient support from health care specialists in urban centres.

Rural Generalist practitioners are thus a key component of the multi-professional teams that together can deliver the highest quality care in rural and remote communities, Rural Health Multidisciplinary Teams are described in the Ngayubah Gadan Consensus Statement which may include other rural GPs, other medical specialists, nurses, Indigenous health workers and allied health practitioners. 

The recognition of Rural Generalist Medicine as a specialised field within General Practice means that doctors with the appropriate Rural Generalist qualifications will now have this formally indicated in their Ahpra registration, under the discipline of General Practice. 

• Enable consistent recognition of Rural Generalists’ skills in health service quality, safety, and employment systems, ensuring they are appropriately utilised.
• Provide clarity for rural patients, helping them better understand the training and capacity of their doctors.
• Streamline training, employment, and hospital credentialing, reducing the complexity and lack of coordination that previously existed. 
• Support rural workforce and resource planning, by ensuring Rural Generalists can be formally counted. 
• Strengthen the academic foundation for best practice Rural Generalist care, by providing clearer recognition in research and training contexts. 
• Enhance recruitment and promotion of rural careers, making it easier to inspire and attract the next generation of doctors to become Rural Generalists. 

Rural Generalist Medicine is now added to the national register of medical specialties. The title “Specialist Rural Generalist” is protected, meaning only those with recognised qualifications can use it.  

The public can search their doctor’s specialist registration details on the national Register of Practitioners. The public register provides assurance that medical practitioners with specialist registration are qualified in the recognised specialty. It also confirms that they have professional indemnity insurance and are complying with continuing professional development and recency of practice requirements.

The general practice colleges have different models for delivering rural generalist training.

• The ACRRM Fellowship qualification (FACRRM) is AMC accredited as a general practice qualification and is designed to reflect attainment of the requisite professional standards for the practice of Rural Generalist Medicine.
• RACGP has introduced a FRACGP-RG Fellowship qualification which is a general practice qualification designed to reflect the standards for Rural Generalist Medicine.

The two general practice colleges, ACRRM and RACGP, currently provide the training, continuing Professional Development and Fellowship qualifications which the Medical Board of Australia recognises for Vocational Registration purposes for specialist general practitioners. Now that Rural Generalist Medicine is recognised, these existing arrangements also apply to the new field.

This is the name the Commonwealth Department of Health have given to their commitment to constructing a national framework to support doctors to train, qualify and practice as rural generalist practitioners in a way that is structured and consistent and which enables portability across health services and jurisdictions.

The ACRRM Rural Generalist Fellowship Program will be assessed through the AMC processes, and it is expected that it will be accredited and FACRRM will become an approved qualification in the new specialist field of Rural Generalist Medicine.  Currently, the ACRRM Fellowship Program is AMC accredited, and the FACRRM is an approved qualification in general practice.

Once accredited it is anticipated that FACRRM will be able to apply through Ahpra for registration as a specialist Rural Generalist and this would be held in addition to your registration as a specialist general practitioner. Specialist registration in the new field of Rural Generalist Medicine, would be recorded in the Register of Medical Practitioners and would entitle you to use the protected title associated with the specialty.