SET stands for Surgical Education and Training and is the surgical programme developed by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) has been recognised for over 80 years as the authoritative body for standards and training in surgical practice in Australia and New Zealand. RACS is accredited in Australia and New Zealand to train surgeons as competent, independently practising specialists in each of the nine surgical specialties.
The Surgical Education and Training (SET) program promotes high quality, efficient surgical education and training through early selection into specialty training – surgical trainees are selected directly into the specialty in which they will undertake specialist surgical education and training. Common standards and principles underpin training across all the specialties.
RACS conducts selection, training and assessment to ensure that surgical trainees become competent surgeons who provide safe, comprehensive surgical care of the highest standard to the communities we serve.
Specialty training boards allocate trainees to accredited training posts for their clinical placements. The specialty boards monitor the quality and outcomes of training in each post through regular hospital accreditation processes and through information from trainees’ logbooks. Hospitals also have supervisors to monitor trainee progress.
In January 2022 the General Surgical Training Programme moved to a five year competency based training programme. All trainees selected from June 2021 onwards will commence training on the new GSET programme.
