Fees

Training fees for 2013: exemption for those admitted to Fellowship between January 1 and March 31 2013

Recently, the ANZCA Council approved an exemption to Regulation 37.5 so that trainees admitted to Fellowship between January 1 and March 31, 2013 are not required to pay the 2013 ATF.

Please note that this only applies to those who are admitted to Fellowship by the Executive Committee before March 31.  Paperwork may be submitted up to four weeks in advance of completing all training requirements and an application can take 2-3 weeks to process. Further information may be obtained by contacting records@anzca.edu.au.

New fee structure

ANZCA has invested heavily to develop a world-class training program (commencing in the 2013 hospital employment year) to ensure Australia and New Zealand remain at the forefront of postgraduate medical education in anaesthesia.

The College has moved beyond being just a body that sets the training standards (with examinations and admission to fellowship) to being an educational provider also. This means that all trainees will have access to high quality online educational resources such as podcasts, webinars and ANZCA Library textbooks and journals.

A key component of the revised training program has been the development of a state-of-the-art electronic training portfolio system (TPS) designed and developed specifically for the ANZCA training program. It allows trainees and their supervisors to record all training experiences from mobile devices and desktop computers, and is updated in real-time with a dashboard that summarises each trainee’s progress towards the requirements of each stage of the program.

ANZCA undertook a robust external modelling process in 2012 to review training costs and the new fee structure reflects the real costs of providing the services.

A “user pays” principle has been adopted, ensuring that trainees only pay for the costs associated with anaesthetic training, and also ensures that one group of trainees is not cross-subsidising another. It also means that trainee fees pay for trainee-related activities and Fellows’ fees pay for Fellow-related activities.

ANZCA Training Scholarships 

ANZCA makes available 20 scholarships each year to assist anaesthesia trainees who are suffering severe financial hardship. Each scholarship will be awarded in the form of a 50 per cent reduction in the annual training fee. Applicants must be registered trainees of ANZCA.

The application form is made available on the website and advertised through the training e-newsletter for two months prior to the closing date each year.  For further information please contact the Records Management Department via records@anzca.edu.au.

Training program costs

The following is a summary of some of the costs involved in running the ANZCA training program.

• Director of professional affairs (assessor and deputy assessor) costs.
• Processes for assisting trainees experiencing difficulty (for example, undertaking trainee performance reviews).
• Accreditation of 209 training hospitals in five countries (inspections - travel and accommodation).
• Accreditation of Effective Management of Anaesthetic Crises (EMAC) providers and courses.
• Records management costs (of processing thousands of assessments, forms, trainee requests).
• IT costs (systems that support training and the College database).
• Online educational resources (library, podcasts, webinars).
• Educational committees and working groups support.
• ANZCA Trainee Committee and regional/national trainee committees support.
• Support for training activities at a regional level and in New Zealand (exam courses, meetings and workshops for supervisors of training).

Examination-specific costs:

• Training and Assessment unit staff (co-ordinating examiners and candidates).
• Staff and director of professional affairs costs (in assessing eligibility to sit exams).
• Examinations committee and subcommittee costs (meetings, travel and accommodation).
• Examiner costs (air and ground travel, accommodation, catering and meals).
• Venue hire (including catering, security and office equipment).
• Staff costs at venues (invigilators, support for examiners, transport, accommodation)
• Costs associated with patients for the final exam medical vivas.
• Costs associated with the oral components of the primary and final exams.
• Exam paper and booklets printing, scanning, examiner postage and courier costs.
• IT costs associated with the examination management system (candidate lists and results, examiner rosters etcetera).
• Examiner training and question writing workshops (travel, accommodation, administrative support).

Training fees for 2013

Changes to the fee payment schedule

The major training-related changes are listed below. For full details see regulation 37.

1. All applicants must pay an application fee. Medical practitioners who are registering as trainees with the College in 2013 are also required to pay this fee as part of the registration process.
2. To maintain applicant status, applicants must pay an annual application maintenance fee.
3. Once the applicant meets the requirements of registration, he or she must pay the registration fee in order to become an ANZCA trainee.
4. If training is resumed part way through a calendar year for which a registration maintenance fee (RMF) has already been paid, the full annual training fee must also be paid for that year. Therefore you should only pay the registration maintenance fee if you know you will be in interrupted training for the entire hospital employment year.
5. All New Zealand fees are payable in New Zealand dollars. They are calculated to be equal to the Australian dollar amount and include 15 per cent GST.
6. Trainees in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia pay a different annual training fee and registration maintenance fee than Australian trainees.
7. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a one-off fee and must be paid when submitting the application.
8. Applicants may pay for a preliminary assessment of recognition of prior learning, but this will not be offset against the recognition of prior learning fee.
9. All fees must be paid in a timely manner.
   Failure to pay the annual training fee within the timeframe stipulated in regulation 37.5.2.5.2 will result in the interval between January 31 and the receipt of payment by the College being counted as interrupted training.
   Trainees who have not paid the annual training fee by February 28 in any calendar year other than the first year of AVT will have their status changed to “not financial”. This will render them unable to access the training portfolio system and to enter any training time, cases and procedures, or assessments.
   Trainees who fail to pay within 13 weeks of the due date will be deemed to have withdrawn from the training program and their training record will be archived.
   Trainees experiencing financial hardship which makes payment impossible within the timeframe required should apply prospectively to the director of professional affairs (assessor) for special consideration at assessor-requests@anzca.edu.au. Each case will be considered on an individual basis.
10. Trainees will be required to pay the full annual training fee for every training year, including the year in which they will graduate to fellowship. In the interest of fairness, the fee will be prorated to the quarter in which the trainee graduates. The new Fellow will receive credit for the annual training fee on their invoice for the subscription and entrance fee. (The subscription fee is also prorated.)
    
    

    Month of graduation	Fee payable
    Quarter 1 - hospital employment year	1/4 of fee payable
    Quarter 2 - annual training fee	1/2 of fee payable
    Quarter 3 - annual training fee	3/4 of fee payable
    Quarter 4 - annual training fee	Full fee payable

Aspects of the fee structure that have not changed include:

1. Training fee due date:
   January 31 for trainees in Australia and New Zealand and all other countries excluding affiliated Asian training regions.
   June 30 for trainees in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
2. Trainees who are not in supervised training or who are taking a break from training for the entire hospital employment year are required to pay a registration maintenance fee. This will maintain registration and ensures the trainee's access to the library and protected areas of the website, as well as the ongoing receipt of the ANZCA Bulletin and other communications.

For further information, please email records@anzca.edu.au or call +61 3 9510 6299.