Ophthalmologist
As a part-time Ophthalmologist, you’ll use your medical expertise and knowledge to ensure appropriate clinical care is administered to patients in both barracks and field environments.
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 be an integral part of the healthcare surgical team where you’ll be required to provide medical care to the highest standards to aid in the prevention, treatment or recovery of injuries or disease.
You may work as a clinical leader of multidisciplinary health teams, as a member of a small specialist medical team or solo in a range of environments. Adaptability is key in this role, where you’ll need to perform your duties wherever and whenever a casualty/patient situation exists, or healthcare is needed.
Your duties may include:
- performing emergency procedures within specialisation
- providing treatment of ADF personnel
- providing specialist clinical advice to command
- training and mentoring other ADF members
- taking on clinical and advisory roles associated with specialisation
- undertaking advisory positions and participating in 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.
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 Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville. Some limited opportunities exist for postings within Joint Health Command health units or Headquarters providing technical and specialist advice. Depending on your rank and experience, support is available for you to travel to training activities from regional centres, if required.
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 an ophthalmologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) in a state or territory of Australia.
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.
Mental demands
You’ll need to function, maintain concentration and prosecute sound decisions for extended periods and required to maintain due cognisance of the consequences of error while working under the constraints of the Geneva Conventions. Additionally, the scope of the mental demands for the Specialist MO are as follows:
Complexity and judgement
- assimilate complex and obscure clinical information for a given casualty/patient
- determine a clinical diagnosis and deliver an appropriate regime of treatment.
Physical skills
- possess physical skills commensurate with the operations, activities and equipment of the organisation you’re supporting
- have the manual dexterity to operate technical medical equipment, in austere environments, on trauma casualties.
Physical demands
- lifting, extracting, restraining and carrying casualties in body armour
- performing your duties in confined spaces
- sleep deprivation.
When being considered for operational service, there are pre-deployment requirements (medical and physical) that must be achieved before any operational deployment. You’re encouraged to maintain Army Individual Readiness Notice (AIRN) compliance 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.
As a Medical Procedural Specialist, you’re employed specifically for your ophthalmological specialty. However, if you wish to be considered for general medical officer employment, you’ll be required to meet further training requirements. This will be discussed with you when required.