Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine

The DipPHRM will launch in Term 3 of the Medical Year in 2020. In Aotearoa New Zealand this commences on 8 June 2020, in Australia this commences on 3 August 2020.

To be eligible to commence the DipPHRM Training Program, medical practitioners must:

1. provide evidence of a confirmed training position at a site accredited by the CCPHRM for DipPHRM training; and
2. meet at least one of the following criteria:
   • be a Fellow of ACEM (FACEM) or enrolled in the FACEM Training Program and have not more than 18 months of required training to complete in order to be eligible to attain Fellowship of ACEM.
   • be a Fellow of ACRRM (FACRRM) or enrolled in the ACRRM specialist training program and have not more than 18 months of required training to complete in order to be eligible to attain Fellowship of ACRRM.
   • be a Fellow of ANZCA (FANZCA) or enrolled in the ANZCA specialist training program and have not more than 18 months of required training to complete in order to be eligible to attain Fellowship of ANZCA; or
   • be a Fellow of CICM (FCICM) or enrolled in the CICM specialist training program and have not more than 18 months of required training to complete in order to be eligible to attain Fellowship of CICM; or
   • be a Fellow of RACGP (FRACGP) or enrolled in the RACGP training program and have not more than 18 months of required training to complete in order to be eligible to attain Fellowship of RACGP.

DipPHRM is a six-month training program, which includes satisfactory completion of:

• Six months FTE training at a site accredited for DipPHRM training.
• Satisfactory completion of formal Workplace-Based Assessments and examinations.
• Other requirements as prescribed by the CCPHRM.

Trainees must arrange placement at a site accredited by the CCPHRM for DipPHRM training. The process for accrediting sites will commence in early 2020 with enrolment commencing soon after.

Note at December 2019: No sites have been accredited for training at this stage. We will make this information available as this process progresses.

Candidates may undertake the training full or part time. Candidates seeking to undertake the DipPHRM on a part-time basis must advise the FTE (full-time equivalent) fraction when applying to undertake training.

Candidates have a maximum of three years to complete the requirements of DipPHRM (including all training and assessment). Candidates who do not satisfactorily complete the requirements of the program within this three-year period will be removed from the program.

FACEM trainees will still be able to undertake a Special Skills Placement (SSP) if they would like to gain experience in PHRM without a formal qualification. Usually, sites accredited for the DipPHRM will also be accredited for the SSP, along with some additional smaller sites.

Trainees from other colleges should consult their college for alternative PHRM training options specific to their speciality. 

Available positions in PHRM services are often listed on the ACEM jobs board. If you are seeking a placement for training in DipPHRM, you should directly contact a PHRM service accredited for this training program.

In 2016 ACEM facilitated the establishment of a working group with the Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) to develop and award a PHRM qualification.

In 2018 ACEM, ANZCA, CICM, ACRRM and RACGP signed a memorandum of understanding to commit to the development of a bi-national training program in PHRM, the first of its kind. The program will be overseen by the Conjoint Committee of PHRM (CCPHRM).