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Selection requirements

Specialty specific eligibility criteria and selection processes
Selection Process - Stage 1
Selection Process - Stage 2
Fees
Time-line for Selection 2009
Contact
Specialty specific eligibility requirements for selection into the SET program
SET Information Booklet

Generic eligibility requirements for selection into the SET program

Any person wishing to apply for selection into the training program of one (or more) of the surgical specialties must fulfil all of the generic eligibility criteria, plus the eligibility criteria for the specific specialty (or specialties).
The generic eligibility criteria which apply across all nine specialties are:

• permanent residency¹ or citizenship of Australia or New Zealand at the time of registration
• General (unconditional) registration in Australia or General scope or restricted general scope registration in the relevant specialty² in New Zealand
  

At the time of registration applicants must consent to a full criminal history check including submission of relevant documentation on request to enable this to be undertaken. All generic eligibility requirements must be satisfied at the time of registration. No registrations will be accepted after 5.00 p.m. AEDT February 20, 2009.
Prior to registration please read:

• Registration for Selection into Surgical Education and Training (SET) Program
• Selection to Surgical Education and Training
• Website information on specialty training and selection

Notes:
1. Permanent (non-citizen) residents of New Zealand are not automatically entitled to residential approval in Australia. New Zealand (non-citizen) residents who apply for a program with Australian rotations will be responsible for securing a visa. In the event that a visa cannot be obtained no special arrangements can be made, and the offer of a place on the program may be withdrawn, or the trainee dismissed.
2. Doctors with restricted general scope registration can only apply for training in the specialty to which they are restricted.

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Specialty specific eligibility criteria and selection processes

Applicants may apply for selection into SET if they can demonstrate, at the time of submitting their application that they have completed, or will complete prior to the start of the next training year, all the mandatory clinical requirements of the specialty to which they are applying. If a selected applicant does not fulfil the specialty requirements prior to the start of the next year of training the offer will be withdrawn. Unless specifically stated otherwise, an acceptable clinical rotation is post-graduate experience with a minimum duration of 8 weeks, which has been under the supervision of an appropriately qualified clinician (surgeon, physician, anaesthetist or intensivist, depending on the type of term). A Critical Care experience is defined as Intensive Care Unit, High Dependency Unit, or similar high intensity clinical area training environments, including, by way of example, cardiothoracic; burns units; spinal units; vascular units; and busy acute general surgery units. For those specialties that conduct separate selection processes in Australia and New Zealand, an applicant may only apply for selection in one or the other country. Applicants will be required to nominate which country they are applying for at the time of registration.

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There are two stages in the Selection process.
Stage 1 is the registration stage

Anyone intending to apply for selection in 2009 must register their intention to apply within the specified time-frame. By the closing date of this stage, applicants must be able to meet the generic eligibility requirements. The fee for registration must be paid by any applicant who is not a current trainee in the BST or SET programs (excluding BST trainees who have interrupted their training) or Fellow. IMGs who have been recommended to apply to SET must pay the registration fee. All stage 1 registrations are conducted on-line through the College. Potential applicants for selection into SET cannot register via specialty societies and associations.

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Stage 2 is the application and selection stage

Doctors who have registered for selection and have been confirmed as satisfying the generic eligibility requirements may lodge an application for selection from March 13. The following specialties accept applications for selection through the College web-based application system:

Cardiothoracic Surgery
General Surgery (Australia or New Zealand)
Neurosurgery
Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (Australia and New Zealand)
Paediatric Surgery
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Australia & New Zealand)
Vascular Surgery

The following specialties accept applications for selection through their specialty societies.

Orthopaedic Surgery (Australia and New Zealand)
Urology

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Fees for Selection

This Selection Processing Fee applies to:

Cardiothoracic Surgery
General Surgery (Australia and New Zealand)
Neurosurgery
Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (Australia and New Zealand)
Paediatric Surgery
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Australia and New Zealand)
Vascular Surgery

The following other specialty programs will publish their own Selection Processing Fees:

Orthopaedic Surgery (Australia or New Zealand)
Urology (Australia or New Zealand)

Applicants applying to more than one specialty are required to pay a Selection Processing Fee for each specialty at the time of submitting their application/CV.

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Time-line for Selection 2009

Applicants offered a position on a training program must accept within 10 days of the offer. Offers not accepted within the nominated timeframe will be automatically rescinded.

Contact

For further enquiries that cannot be answered by the website information, please contact SETEnquiries@surgeons.org.

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Register

If you are eligible to apply in 2009 for the Surgical Education and Training (SET) program, you must register for selection between January 6 and February 20, 2009. 

Registration for Selection is now Closed

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Specialty specific eligibility requirements for selection into the SET program

Cardiothoracic Surgery
General Surgery - Australia & New Zealand
Neurosurgery
Orthopaedic Surgery - Australia
Orthopaedic Surgery - New Zealand
Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery - Australia
Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery - New Zealand 
Paediatric Surgery
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - Australia
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery - New Zealand
Urology
Vascular Surgery

SET Information Booklet

Click here for the 2009 SET information Booklet

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