Prevocational General Practice Placements Program (PGPPP)
- About the program
- What will junior doctors gain from doing a prevocational general practice placement?
- Eligibility to apply to the program
- 2012 VMA PGPPP Posts
- Doctors share their stories
- FAQ for junior doctors
- FAQ for practices
- Interested in finding out more?
Experience General Practice
If you are a prevocational doctor and interested in finding out first-hand what general practice is like, or perhaps you are undecided about a career in general practice, then you will benefit from a PGPPP placement.
About the program
The program is funded under a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing and managed by General Practice Education and Training (GPET).
VMA is a PGPPP provider. VMA offers a range of placements throughout Melbourne and the metropolitan area for doctors in postgraduate years two and up (PGY2+) in order to experience general practice before making a career decision.
The VMA PGPPP program provides professional, well supervised and educational 10 to 13 week general practice placements for junior doctors as part of their training.
top of pageWhat will junior doctors gain from doing a prevocational general practice placement?
A VMA PGPPP placement will:
- Build junior doctors' confidence, exposure and interest in working in outer metropolitan, regional and rural areas through supervised general practice placements of varying duration approx 10-13 weeks.
- Increase understanding of the integration between primary and secondary health care by junior doctors.
- Provide an experience that will encourage junior doctors to take up general practice as a career.
Eligibility to apply to the program
- Junior doctors undertaking hospital training not yet enrolled in a speciality.
- International medical graduates are also able to apply however special conditions apply to overseas trained doctors and overseas medical graduates of Australian universities. For full eligibility requirements contact VMA.
2012 VMA PGPPP Posts
VMA work together with feeder hospital and practices to deliver the PGPPP. Current PGPPP posts managed by VMA are listed below. Click on the practice to download the PGPPP Post Profile for that post.
| Feeder Hospital | Practice |
| Austin Health | Coburg Central Medical Clinic |
| Austin Health | Preston Family Medical Centre |
| Austin Health | West Heidelberg Medical Centre |
| Eastern Health (Angliss Hospital) | North Ringwood Medical Centre |
| Melbourne Health | Coburg Central Medical Clinic |
| Northern Health | Coolaroo Clinic |
| Northern Health | Family Medical Centre, Sunbury |
| Peninsula Health | Eramosa Family Medical Centre |
| Southern Health | Cranbourne Stawell Clinic |
| Southern Health | Hill Medical Centre, Noble Park |
| St Vincent's Hospital, Fitzroy | The Clinic Footscray |
| Western Health | Westcare Medical Centre |
Doctors share their stories
Prevocational doctors who have undertaken a PGPPP placement share their experiences.
Dr Brendan Fitzgerald, Family Medical Centre Sunbury"On a PGPPP rotation, you essentially work as a junior trainee. It was a really character-building experience – I feel the responsibility for making important, independent decisions helped me mature as a young doctor. I really enjoyed the autonomy, though well supported, being able to independently manage patients from a primary care perspective was a definite highlight," Brendan says. 
More from Brendan
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Dr Violeta Ananieva, Coolaroo ClinicCoolaroo Clinic is a fairly big practice so even though I had two supervisors listed, in fact I had a lot more. Everyone there was fantastic about answering my many questions and pointing me in the right direction. There was always a more senior doctor available and each had their own area of expertise, which allowed me to broaden my knowledge in many different fields.
More from Violeta
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FAQ for Junior Doctors
Frequently Asked Questions from Junior Doctors
FAQ for Practices
Frequently Asked Questions from Practices
Interested in finding out more?
To learn more about the VMA PGPP program and the current VMA posts download the VMA – Prevocational General Practice Placements Program - PGPPP brochure.
Or Contact
| VMA PGPPP Provider | Judith Culliver or Kylee Taylor |
| Feeder Hospitals | As listed above |
| GPET | GPET website |