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Any person wishing to applying for the Surgical Education and Training Program in Neurosurgery must, in addition to the generic eligibility criteria determined by the RACS, satisfy the neurosurgery specific eligibility requirements which are outlined in the Regulations.
Applicants to the Australian Pathway must at the time of application:
For further information, refer to the NSA Selection Regulations.
At the time of application, applicants must nominate a Home Region where, if selected, they will ordinarily spend the majority of their SET Program. The nominated Home Region cannot be changed in future selection applications unless a written request is made to the Board of Neurosurgery Chair prior to the closing date for applications and approved at the Board of Neurosurgery Chair’s discretion on the grounds of exceptional circumstances.
Application Process
Applications can only be submitted by registered applicants using the neurosurgery online application form.
The selection process uses four selection tools, each contributing the following weightings to the overall selection score out of 100:
Applicants must score a minimum of 50.00% (5.5 out of 11 points) for the Structured Curriculum Vitae to be deemed suitable for selection.
Applicants must score a minimum of 70.00% (168 out of 240 marks) for the Neurosurgery Anatomy Examination to be deemed suitable for selection.
Applicants who satisfy the standards will be ranked according to their combined score for the Structured Curriculum Vitae and the Neurosurgery Anatomy Examination with the selection tool weightings applied (which equates to a score out of 40 points). All other applicants will be deemed unsuitable, will not be ranked and will not proceed further in the selection process.
The top 34 ranked applicants will be shortlisted for the Reference Report. All other applicants will be deemed unsuccessful and will not proceed further in the selection process.
Applicants must score a minimum of 70% (49 out of 70 points) for the Reference Report to be deemed suitable for selection.
All applicants will be allowed a maximum of four attempts at selection into the SET Program in Neurosurgery (from 2022 intake onwards).
Further information on the Application and Selection Process can be found here.
The Training Program can be completed in a minimum of five years and a maximum of nine years’ subject to satisfactory progression through the levels in the timeframes outlined in the Training Program Regulations. The three levels are:
Information on the curriculum is available here.
The majority of the training is undertaken in clinical training posts accredited by the Board of Neurosurgery in Australian and New Zealand hospitals (information on the training posts is available here). The clinical training posts facilitate workplace hands on service learning and exploration in a range of training environments providing the opportunity for the trainee to develop, with supervision, the requisite experience, knowledge, skills and attributes necessary to become a competent independent specialist neurosurgeon. Trainees are allocated to accredited training posts by the Board of Neurosurgery for each year of their Training Program. Trainees will rotate through a minimum of three training units with accredited clinical training posts during their Training Program to ensure they receive a wide exposure to systems, supervisors and case mixes.
AUD $3,590
GSSE: AUD $4,650.00
Specialty Surgical Sciences exam: AUD $2,150.00
Fellowship exam: AUD $8,950.00
AUD $585
AUD $985 (non-refundable, inclusive of examination fee)
PGY Intake Year (earliest)
Training Duration (minimum)
Any person wishing to applying for the Surgical Education and Training Program in Neurosurgery must, in addition to the generic eligibility criteria determined by the RACS, satisfy the neurosurgery specific eligibility requirements which are outlined in the Regulations.
Applicants to the Australian Pathway must at the time of application:
For further information, refer to the NSA Selection Regulations.
At the time of application, applicants must nominate a Home Region where, if selected, they will ordinarily spend the majority of their SET Program. The nominated Home Region cannot be changed in future selection applications unless a written request is made to the Board of Neurosurgery Chair prior to the closing date for applications and approved at the Board of Neurosurgery Chair’s discretion on the grounds of exceptional circumstances.
Application Process
Applications can only be submitted by registered applicants using the neurosurgery online application form.
The selection process uses four selection tools, each contributing the following weightings to the overall selection score out of 100:
Applicants must score a minimum of 50.00% (5.5 out of 11 points) for the Structured Curriculum Vitae to be deemed suitable for selection.
Applicants must score a minimum of 70.00% (168 out of 240 marks) for the Neurosurgery Anatomy Examination to be deemed suitable for selection.
Applicants who satisfy the standards will be ranked according to their combined score for the Structured Curriculum Vitae and the Neurosurgery Anatomy Examination with the selection tool weightings applied (which equates to a score out of 40 points). All other applicants will be deemed unsuitable, will not be ranked and will not proceed further in the selection process.
The top 34 ranked applicants will be shortlisted for the Reference Report. All other applicants will be deemed unsuccessful and will not proceed further in the selection process.
Applicants must score a minimum of 70% (49 out of 70 points) for the Reference Report to be deemed suitable for selection.
All applicants will be allowed a maximum of four attempts at selection into the SET Program in Neurosurgery (from 2022 intake onwards).
Further information on the Application and Selection Process can be found here.
The Training Program can be completed in a minimum of five years and a maximum of nine years’ subject to satisfactory progression through the levels in the timeframes outlined in the Training Program Regulations. The three levels are:
Information on the curriculum is available here.
The majority of the training is undertaken in clinical training posts accredited by the Board of Neurosurgery in Australian and New Zealand hospitals (information on the training posts is available here). The clinical training posts facilitate workplace hands on service learning and exploration in a range of training environments providing the opportunity for the trainee to develop, with supervision, the requisite experience, knowledge, skills and attributes necessary to become a competent independent specialist neurosurgeon. Trainees are allocated to accredited training posts by the Board of Neurosurgery for each year of their Training Program. Trainees will rotate through a minimum of three training units with accredited clinical training posts during their Training Program to ensure they receive a wide exposure to systems, supervisors and case mixes.
AUD $3,590
GSSE: AUD $4,650.00
Specialty Surgical Sciences exam: AUD $2,150.00
Fellowship exam: AUD $8,950.00
AUD $585
AUD $985 (non-refundable, inclusive of examination fee)
PGY Intake Year (earliest)
Training Duration (minimum)
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