Australasian College for Emergency Medicine

The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine is an institution whose prime objective is the training and examination of emergency physicians for Australia and New Zealand.

Fellows of The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine are permitted to use the post nominals FACEM. To qualify as a fellow, a doctor who has graduated from an approved medical school must complete provisional training, a primary examination, advanced training, a research requirement and a fellowship examination.

The fellowship examination consists of a primary written examination held in major hospitals in most states in three (3) parts - Multiple Choice, Visual and short answer. Those that pass at least two thirds of the written and overall are invited to undertake the final clinical examination of 7 minute cases presented verbally face to face with examiners at a selected Australasian hospital (Perth 2008). Those that pass are invited to drinks on the final evening with others left to try again the full written fellowship examination the following year.

Some medical administrators claim the college is not graduating enough fellows to meet the needs of Australian hospitals particularly in regional and rural areas. Some states have suggested recognising the qualifications of other colleges like Rural and Remote medicine to increase the numbers available to provide senior roles within their emergency departments.

The headquarters of the College are in Melbourne, Australia.