Medical Procedural Specialist
As a part-time qualified Medical Procedural Specialist, you’ll serve in a range of deployable health units, providing quality healthcare and medical intervention to keep members healthy and ensure the Army is operating at peak capacity.
If you’re looking to experience adventure and excitement outside the everyday, earn tax-free pay and work as part of a close-knit team, this is an exciting opportunity that can work around your lifestyle.
What you'll do
You’ll provide specialist healthcare services on land or sea, to humanitarian situations, major international activities and on operations. You’ll work with modern advanced technology, health equipment and materials as part of a dynamic health team.
Due to the ever-changing global situation, your patients will vary from Army members to refugees (including children and the elderly) and combat casualties. This is an opportunity to further your knowledge in new areas, and gain skills and experiences you can take back to your full-time role.
Your duties may include:
- providing emergency care to ADF members
- providing specialist clinical advice to commanders
- training and mentoring other ADF members
- leading small teams of clinical health professionals
- performing clinical and advisory roles within specialisation
- providing advice to multi agency groups and committees.
Opportunities for progression and upskilling continue throughout your career as an officer. As you progress, the Army will provide you with leadership, management, and specialist skills training to develop your ability to effectively manage your teams. You’ll also be provided with training opportunities to further develop your role-related expertise. This world-class training will strengthen your skillset and enable you to become an influential leader in the Army.
You may have the opportunity to complete full-time postgraduate registrar training to further your skills and qualifications.
The Army Reserve has units located all across Australia and offers you the flexibility to serve where you live. There are training locations in cities, small towns and regional areas. Even if there isn’t a unit close to you there may be other ways to serve. You’ll have a Careers Coach who you can ask about your options.
Specialist Medical Officers are generally posted to a Health Battalion located in either Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin or Townsville as well as detachments in other cities. Some limited opportunities exist for postings within Joint Health Command health units or HQ providing technical and specialist advice. Depending on rank and experience, if you live in a regional area, you may be approved to travel for your service.
Requirements and training
You must be an Australian citizen to serve in the ADF. However, Australian permanent residents may be eligible. For more details, visit the "Citizenship" tab on the Eligibility Requirements page.
You can apply for a role in the ADF from 16.5 years of age and must be at least 17 to join. For Reserve service, the maximum age to apply is 60 years, with a Compulsory Retirement Age (CRA) of 65. Candidates who wish to enlist into the Reserves beyond the age of 61 years will need further assessment to ensure they can complete all pre-requisite training in their chosen field prior to reaching CRA.
You don’t need a driver’s licence for this role but if you have one, it can’t be suspended or cancelled.
All ADF members require a security clearance. As an ADF member, you’ll need to obtain the appropriate level of security clearance for your role. You’ll need a collection of relevant information including background checks and/or interviews so the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency (AGSVA) can make an informed assessment to ensure the protection of Government resources and information. Your Careers Coach will explain what level of clearance is required for the career you are considering.
For more information or to learn about how security clearance will apply to you, view the eligibility requirements page.
The minimum requirement for entry into this role is as follows. You must be qualified and unconditionally registered as a medical practitioner with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Medical doctors in an approved Australian specialist training program are also encouraged to apply and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The current required specialisations are:
- cardiothoracic surgeon
- faciomaxillary surgeon
- orthopaedic surgeon
- general surgeon
- anaesthetist
- intensivist
- neurosurgeon
- ophthalmologist.
To join the ADF, you must be healthy and physically fit. This is partially assessed from the completion of an extensive questionnaire covering your medical history, followed by a physical examination.
You’ll also be required to successfully pass a physical fitness assessment.
Male
- Push-ups: 8
- Sit-ups: 20
- Beep Test: 6.1.
Female
- Push-ups: 4
- Sit-ups: 20
- Beep Test: 6.1.
For further details on medical and physical fitness standards, refer to physical fitness standards for entry into the ADF and medical process for entry into the ADF.
There is no minimum number of years required in the ADF Reserve as service is voluntary. You can volunteer until the Defence Reserve retirement age of 65, subject to the requirements and your suitability for further service.
Reserve service is flexible and can fit around your family, life and work responsibilities. In your first year, you can choose to serve between a minimum of 20 and up to 150 days, which includes Initial Employment and Military Training. After that, you can choose to serve 20 to 150 days each year, with the potential to extend to 200 days. On training completion, you can serve from as little as one night a week, one weekend a month, or in consecutive weeks - in a way that suits your lifestyle.
Medical Procedural Specialists are required to remain medically fit. When opportunities to serve on operations exist, Medical Procedural Specialists will need to meet all pre-deployment requirements (medical, dental, physical and administrative) before any operational deployment. Medical Procedural Specialists are encouraged to maintain Individual Readiness standards as operational deployments can occur at short notice.
Course: Specialist Service Officer First Appointment Course (SSO FAC)
Duration: 25 days
Location: Royal Military College – Duntroon, Canberra, ACT
You’ll learn fundamental knowledge of:
- leadership and military justice
- weapons handling
- command and control
- unit and personnel administration
- basic military skills
- the ideals of officer behaviour
- attitudes necessary for future employment.
This course is delivered in 2 parts for both full-time and part-time (Reserve) Officers.
- Part 1 – 10 days
- Part 2 – 15 days.