Hospital Medical Officers

The BPT1 stream is for those applicants who intend on completing Basic Physician Training within 3 years.

To be eligible to apply for these positions, you must have the intention to register with the Royal Australian College of Physicians. Offer of employment and rotations are made in good faith of this requirement.

All available BPT1 rotations below are located to the RMH Parkville unless otherwise noted include:

• Aged care (at the RMH Parkville and the RMH Royal Park)
• Cardiology
• Emergency medicine
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• General and specialty medicine (Albury Wodonga)
• Haematology
• Intensive care medicine
• Infectious diseases
• Medical oncology (Peter MacCallum)
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Palliative care (PGY2 only, Peter MacCallum)
• Psychiatry (community specialist clinics, youth, homeless, acute inpatient)
• Rehabilitation medicine (the RMH Royal Park)
• Relieving / leave cover
• Respiratory medicine
• RMH@Home

The surgical stream is for applicants seeking further experience in a range of surgical specialities before applying for a surgical college training program for PGY2 positions only.

All available surgical stream rotations outlined below are located to the RMH Parkville unless otherwise noted include:

• Cardiothoracic surgery
• Emergency medicine (The RMH Parkville)
• Emergency medicine (Wangaratta)
• Emergency medicine (Wimmera)
• ENT
• Intensive care medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Ophthalmology
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Plastic surgery
• Psychiatry (community specialist clinics, youth, homeless)
• Relieving or leave cover
• Surgical oncology (Peter MacCallum)
• Trauma
• Urology
• Vascular surgery

The general stream offers a variety of rotations and is suitable for those would like to gain further experience across all areas of medicine. The rotations support entry into multiple training pathways including general practice, women’s health, radiology and critical care.

All general stream rotations below are located to the RMH Parkville unless otherwise noted:

• Aged care (the RMH Royal Park)
• Cardiology
• Dermatology
• Emergency medicine (the RMH Parkville)
• Emergency (Wangaratta) accredited with RACGP/ACRRM for GP training
• Emergency medicine (Wimmera)
• Intensive care medicine
• Medical education officer
• Medical, surgical and radiation oncology (Peter MacCallum)
• Neurosurgery
• Obstetrics and gynaecology (Royal Women’s Hospital - PGY3+ only)
• Ophthalmology
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Plastic surgery
• Psychiatry (community specialist clinics, youth, homeless, acute inpatient)
• Relieving / leave cover
• Rehabilitation medicine (the RMH Royal Park)
• RMH@Home

The RMH offers 6 Critical Care positions primarily suited to PGY3+ doctors who:

• Are considering a career in Anaesthesia
• Would like to gain further experience before applying to one of the specialty training programs

Doctors will rotate through 4 rotations of 13 weeks comprising of a double Anaesthesia rotation, Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine. The rotation through Anaesthesia will be in either term 1 or term 2 to enable you to gain experience and suitable referees should you plan on applying for the training program.

The Pre-SET HMO PGY3+positions rotate through 4 rotations of 13-week rotations, including:

• Two orthopaedic surgery HMO rotations at the RMH
• One orthopaedic surgery HMO rotation at Wangaratta
• One relieving / cover term

There are 4 positions available to PGY3 and PGY4 who wish to gain further experience in orthopaedic surgery before either applying for SET or an unaccredited position the following year.

The RMH offers a limited number of Post Graduate Year (PGY) 3+ positions to doctors who are seeking to gain experience as a junior registrar within general surgery.

These positions provide prized surgical experience and patient management opportunities, ideal for candidates attempting to enter the surgical training program. To be eligible to apply, it is expected that you are preparing to sit the GSSE exam if you haven’t already.

Successful applicants will rotate through a minimum of 6 months in the following positions:

• Unaccredited general surgery registrar - The RMH
• Unaccredited colorectal registrar - Peter MacCallum
• Unaccredited urology registrar – 6-month Rotation, Wangaratta
• Unaccredited urology registrar – Ballarat
• Unaccredited general surgery registrar - Wimmera
• Unaccredited general surgery registrar - Epworth

You will also have the opportunity to rotate through the following HMO rosters.

• Cardiothoracic surgery
• Intensive care medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Oral and maxillofacial surgery
• Orthopaedic surgery
• Plastic surgery
• Trauma
• Urology
• Vascular surgery

At this stage we are unable to confirm how many positions will be available but it is likely there will be more general stream positions available than Medical BPT1 or Surgical stream positions.

We recommend that you only apply for Medical BPT1 or surgical stream positions if you are committed to that career path as both streams are highly competitive due to the limited number of positions.

Should you be shortlisted, you will be sent an email with a link and invited to book an interview via our online booking website.

Allocations are coordinated via a central process. All successful applicants are required to complete a preference form where each rotation is numbered in order of preference. There is also an opportunity to write any details to support your preferences such as college requirements.

There is no way to guarantee that you will be allocated any specific rotation. It depends on how many people rank that rotation as their first preference and how many positions we have available each year.

We do our best to allocate rotations fairly across all streams however it is inevitable that not everyone will be satisfied with all their rotations. In this situation, you are able to swap your rotation with a colleague and also swap into rotations as and when they become available during the year. The Medical Workforce Unit do their best to work with you in swapping rotations.

There are no set rotations we require you to complete. However, most HMOs complete a relieving/leave cover term where your annual leave is ideally taken in a single five-week block.

The Medical Education HMO position is a unique role. Working as part of the RMH Clinical School, the role involves teaching MD students from the University of Melbourne in a range of different contexts.

This includes clinical simulation sessions, held at the Melbourne Clinical Simulation Centre, case-based teaching, and practical workshops focused on developing students’ clinical skills.

The role represents an invaluable opportunity to develop relevant skills and gain practical experience in medical education delivery, particularly at a HMO level.

The role offers a degree of independence and autonomy, empowering HMOs to identify areas for improvement and develop new initiatives to improve teaching delivery.

It is well-supported through the wealth of experience and knowledge held by the RMH Clinical School staff, who provide regular guidance, mentoring and feedback throughout the rotation.

The Improvement HMO role empowers junior doctors to liaise with senior medical staff and administrative team about opportunities for change, growth and development processes within the organisation. It is a fulfilling position that equips junior doctors with skills to improve the RMH from the ground up.

The Improvement HMOs act as junior doctor representatives and provide innovative solutions to problems to senior medical and administrative staff. They lead various improvement projects under the guidance of senior management, who provide regular coaching and mentoring.

They are the Support Officers for the monthly HMO Committee meetings and bimonthly Head of Units meetings. As such, they work closely with senior management and medical administrative staff.