General Practice in Australia has undergone many changes in training requirements over the past decade. The basic medical degree in Australia is the MBBS (Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery), which has traditionally been attained after completion of a six-year course. Over the last few years, four-year postgraduate courses have become more common. After graduating, a one or two-year internship (dependent on state) is required for registration before specialist training begins. For general practice training, the doctor applies to enter the three-year "Australian General Practice Training Program", a combination of coursework and apprenticeship type training leading to the awarding of the FRACGP (Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners), if successful. This qualification or its equivalent is needed to access the Medicare health system for remuneration as a general practitioner. Medicare is Australia's Universal Health Care system, and without access to it, a practitioner cannot effectively work in Australia. Most GPs work under a fee-for-service arrangement although increasingly a portion of income is derived from Government payments for participation in chronic disease management. There is a shortage of GPs in rural areas and increasingly outer metropolitan areas of large cities, which has led to the utilisation of overseas trained doctors (OTDs). GP incomes can match those of other internal medicine specialists, but not proceduralists. Many GPs feel that they are second-rate doctors because of lower incomes, less public respect than their specialist colleagues, lack of research opportunities, and lack of access to public hospitals. Historically GPs were the default group for those who had failed often brutal specialist training programs or for those without family connections to secure training positions for lucrative specialties, this is less so with the advent of general practice as a specialty in its own right, including a proper training scheme and certification process.

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