What do I have to do to sit the FJFICM?

What do I have to do to sit the FJFICM?

There are two main routes to sitting the FJFICM. Most candidates are trainees from Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong, for whom training requirements include :

passing the FJFICM Primary, or the FRACP (Australian MRCP), or the FANZCA (Anaesthetic) Primary, or an equivalent exam.
a six-year training programme, consisting of three basic training years (BTYs), involving any combination of intensive care, anaesthesia, internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, research or other relevant experience; and three advanced training years (ATYs), consisting of two 'core years' of intensive care and one 'elective year' of any of the aforementioned specialities. At least one of the 'core years' must be 12 months continuous training in an approved unit; and at least one year must be spent in approved units in Australia, New Zealand or Hong Kong (or one in Canada!). Overall, the six years should include at least 24 months of ICU, at least 12 months of anaesthetics and at least 12 months of internal medicine (or paediatric medicine for PICU trainees). The RACP, FANZCA Primary or equivalent exam must be passed before starting the advanced training years. See JFICM's Regulation 7 for the full info.
Completion of the ADAPT course (Australasian Donor Awareness Programme).
'Formative assessments': Examining and presenting four ICU patients to your local supervisor in the six months prior to sitting the FJFICM Final Exam (as a warm-up for the clinical 'Hot Case' exam).
Passing the FJFICM Final exam, available in either adult or paediatric flavour. Either exam involves a written component (short-answer questions), clinical exams in intensive care and general medical cases, and an hour of vivas; in addition, the adult version involves an OSCE (to be dismantled in 2008), and the paediatric version involves a data interpretation exam. You must have completed the basic training (BTYs) and at least one 'core year' of advanced training (ATY) before you can sit the exam. Forthcoming sittings and application forms can be found here.
A 'Formal Project' - this "should preferably be a prospective scientific study, but may be an evidence-based systematic review, a retrospective study or a case series. Individual case reports will not be accepted." The formal project may be completed after the exam.

An alternative route to sitting the FJFICM, for those who have already completed Intensive Care Training in another country and wish to live and work in Australia, is via assessment as an Overseas-Trained Specialist (OTS). Being granted specialist recognition does not automatically lead to being granted the FJFICM - you can only become a FJFICM if you sit the exam - but assessment as an OTS allows you bypass some or all of the training requirement, if you have received similar training overseas. Application is made via the Australian Medical Council (AMC), with a tremendous amount of paperwork. The AMC refers such applications to the JFICM, which will compare your training and qualifications to those of Australasian trainees. For specialist recognition, the JFICM will often require that you spend a year or two in 'supervised practice' in Australia, and may require you to sit their exam as well (without going through the requirements listed above - though you still have to do the 'Formative Assessments'). Once you have satisfied them that your training and qualifications are equivalent, you may be recognised as a specialist; if you want to go on to become a FJFICM, you must then still sit the exam, though you will usually be exempted from the written part of the exam.

A similar system for Overseas-Trained Specialists operates in New Zealand via the MCNZ. However, my impression is that it is somewhat easier to work as an intensivist without having the FJFICM in New Zealand than in Australia, particularly in the district hospitals.