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New Fellowship Program FAQs

Key takeaways for trainees and Fellows

This work is about designing the next Fellowship program, not changing the rules for current trainees. The aim is to future-proof psychiatric training, so it remains fair, rigorous, and aligned with real-world practice. 

Fellows’ experience and professional judgement are central to getting it right. This is about producing a curriculum that focuses on developing the skills that are necessary to manage the clinical challenges you will face in the future so as you can thrive in your careers in Psychiatry. It’s also about creating a curriculum that is fit for purpose and meets the needs of the populations and communities we serve.  

While change takes time, early engagement from trainees and Fellows is essential.

Taskforce FAQs

1. What is the New Fellowship Program Taskforce?

It is a time-limited working group established by the RANZCP Board in mid-2025 to lead a whole-of-program redesign of the College’s Fellowship training program. The Taskforce’s purpose is to set the vision, guiding principles and high-level design for a new, future-focused program. At its core it is about building trust in the new Fellowship Program with the Fellows and communities through widening stakeholder engagement.

New Fellowship Program FAQs

2. What is the New Fellowship Program and why should I care?

The New Fellowship Program is a major redesign of RANZCP training that will shape how future psychiatrists are trained, assessed and supported. While current trainees will continue under the existing program, the decisions being made now will influence supervision models, assessment approaches and expectations for the profession over the next two decades.

3. Why is a new Fellowship program needed?

The last redesign was in 2012 and so it is timely to develop a new curriculum as workplace challenges have altered, workforce challenges shifted and the role and identity of the psychiatrist is continually changing. Moreover, the Taskforce concluded that incremental updates are insufficient. The scale of changes needed to keep pace with modern psychiatric practice, workforce needs and advances in medical education calls for a comprehensive redesign.

4. What the new Fellowship program is NOT

The purpose of the new Fellowship program is not to criticise current trainees or supervisors. It is not a cost-cutting exercise or a sudden change to the rules of training. It will not require existing Fellows to retrain.

5. How does this link to broader workforce needs?

By strengthening generalist foundations while supporting diverse advanced practice pathways, the new program seeks to produce psychiatrists better prepared to respond to changing health system demands, community expectations and workforce distribution across diverse settings.

6. What are the core goals of the new program?

The new Fellowship program aims to develop psychiatrists who are:

  • compassionate, culturally safe, collaborative and patient-centred clinicians
  • equipped with leadership, digital literacy and systems understanding
  • prepared to meet community and workforce needs across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
  • trained under a curriculum with clear alignment between competencies and assessment.
  • able to thrive in challenging workplaces and be supported with approaches that help meet ensure wellbeing needs are met.

7. Why not just improve the current program instead of redesigning it?

The Taskforce found the changes needed, particularly around assessment, learning outcomes, and alignment with modern practice, are too significant for incremental updates. A full redesign allows the College to address long-standing concerns more coherently rather than layering fixes on to an older framework.

8. Is the current training program being scrapped?

No. The existing Fellowship Program will continue until the new program is introduced. Until then, ongoing quality improvements to the current program will be managed by the Education Committee. However, selected changes may be limited to avoid disruption before the new program is introduced.

The Taskforce is working in parallel on a future program, recognising that large-scale reform takes time and careful planning to avoid unintended consequences for trainees.

9. Will this make training easier or harder?

The aim is not to lower standards or increase burden, including excessive assessment or duplication, but to make training more educationally sound, transparent and clinically and socially relevant for the future. The focus is on producing psychiatrists who are confident, capable and well prepared for contemporary practice.

10. What educational framework will the new program use?

In keeping with other vocational Fellowship programs, it will be based on a competency-based medical education (CBME) framework. This moves beyond purely time-based training to focus on clearly defined capabilities and real-world performance. CBME should not be about continuous testing. The intention is to use better-designed assessments, with clearer expectations and stronger support for supervisors to make sound, defensible judgements about progress.

The program will continue to be designed so that most trainees are able to complete training in around 5 years, reflecting the expected time needed to develop the required capabilities in contemporary psychiatric practice. Progression will be guided by demonstrated capability and readiness for practice, rather than time served alone, while recognising that individuals may progress at different rates.

Importantly, this does not mean rushing training or extending it unnecessarily. It means greater clarity, fairness, and better alignment between learning, supervision, and assessment within a structured, time-bound program.

11. How will assessment be structured?

The proposed hybrid assessment model is likely to blend high stakes and low stakes assessments including:

  • workplace-based assessments
  • external clinical examinations
  • written examination components.

This mix is designed to assess both practical competence and academic knowledge.

12. What is the timeline for development?

  • 2026: The Taskforce will deliver a high-level prototype, a conceptual design outlining vision, principles and structure.
  • Mid-2026: Broad consultation will occur with members and stakeholders.
  • Post-2026: Development of the curriculum by the Education Committee, the Education Department, and implementation groups.
  • By 2030: The new Fellowship program is expected to be implemented.

This is a staged process designed to protect trainees while enabling meaningful reform.

13. How will this affect trainee wellbeing?

Trainee experience and wellbeing are explicit considerations. Consideration is being given to type and sequencing (or timing) of assessments, as well as looking at what other Colleges are doing both nationally and internationally, to reduce unnecessary stress while maintaining rigor. There are two trainee representatives on the Taskforce who provide a voice for trainees on this issue. We recognise unless wellbeing needs are met, learning cannot happen.

14. Will Fellows be affected by the new program?

Existing Fellows will not be required to retrain. However, Fellows, especially supervisors and educators, will play a key role in shaping, supervising and assessing the future program. The new program will also influence how the profession defines competence and readiness for independent practice.

15. What about flexibility, part-time training and diverse career paths?

The redesign is an opportunity to better accommodate:

  • part-time and interrupted training pathways
  • diverse practice settings (including rural and regional)
  • broader career roles such as leadership, research, teaching and systems work
  • flexible approaches to ensure trainees’ psychological and cultural safety
  • flexible approaches to support trainees with disability
  • flexible approaches to allow those who do not complete, to leave with recognition of their training.

Flexibility is seen as essential to workforce sustainability.

Consultation FAQs

16. How is the Taskforce developing its proposals?

Design is informed by:

  • recent surveys and member feedback
  • curriculum evaluations
  • external reviews
  • benchmarking with other specialist medical colleges nationally and internationally
  • consultation with members in 2026.

17. How will members and trainees be involved?

Member and trainee involvement will occur through a structured consultation process, leading up to the release of a high-level prototype in 2026. Input is already being gathered through the RANZCP Consultation Hub, and through recent surveys and feedback. This will inform the development of the prototype.

Once the final prototype and recommendations are provided to the Board, further consultation can be expected as the Education team, led by the Dean of Education, and the Education Committee commit to implementation and program development. Engagement will occur through surveys, written submissions, targeted forums, and existing College engagement channels.

18. Why does member and trainee input matter now?

This is a critical window to shape the future of psychiatric training. The Taskforce is making foundational decisions about the structure, expectations, and assessment of the next Fellowship Program. Early input from trainees and Fellows helps ensure the new program reflects real-world practice, addresses long-standing challenges, and supports a sustainable, high-quality workforce.

Engaging now allows members to influence what is retained, what is changed, and what is built differently, before the program design is finalised and moves into detailed curriculum development.

Related links

Contact

newfellowshipprogram@ranzcp.org

Last updated 03 March 2026