Doctors wanting to become a nuclear medicine specialist in Australia and New Zealand must complete RACP’s Advanced Training in Nuclear Medicine (ATNM) training program. Learning Goal 9 within the ATNM curriculum requires trainees to gain “an in-depth knowledge of the scientific basis of nuclear medicine, including radiation safety”. While many of the learning outcomes within this Goal will be gained through on-the-job experience, a mandatory learning activity for trainees has also been set.
RACP has engaged AANMS to create and deliver a course and assessment for this learning goal. AANMS’s Basic Sciences Course and Exam provides trainees with theoretical and practical training within the basic scientific principles relevant to the clinical applications of nuclear medicine. AANMS provides RACP with trainee outcomes, and trainees must obtain satisfactory completion in both the course and exam to be able to progress along their ATNM training pathway.
Aim of the Basic Sciences Course
By actively participating in the BSC, trainees will:
- Obtain an understanding of the theoretical principles of the basic sciences in nuclear medicine;
- Be able to apply these principles in clinical nuclear medicine practice, and
- Obtain practical skills in instrumentation, computer analysis and radiopharmacy.
Entry to the Course
The BSC is only open to trainees undertaking their Advanced Training in Nuclear Medicine. Trainees must also be an AANMS Trainee Member – if you are not yet a member, please join (it’s free and gives you access to the AANMS TREC and provides you with lots of great learning opportunities and support).
Important 2026 Dates
- Registration to Complete BSC/BSE: Opening March 2026.
- Course: Dates still to be confirmed, but will be for a week sometime April/May.
- Exam: 8 weeks after the course (exam takes a few hours, to be completed on a set day with your supervisor)
- When: To be completed in Year 1 of the Training Program
- Cost: TBC (2025 fee was $1,537 inc GST)
Course Structure
The course is held over a week of full day training. The content is delivered predominantly online – a mixture of recorded tutorials, live tutorials, reading material and eLearning – with a couple of in-person practical days held at one location in each state/zone. 10 topics are delivered over 20+ tutorials and are accessible on AANMS’s Trainee Resource and Education Centre (TREC).
Exam
The exam is held 8 weeks after the course and consists of 10 topics that ask a range of multiple-choice and long answer questions. The exam is completed online via AANMS’s Trainee Resource and Education Centre (TREC), with results provided about a month after the exam via the TREC.
Recognition
Trainees must attend the full course and receive a pass outcome in the exam to obtain “satisfactory completion” in this RACP Advanced Training in Nuclear Medicine training requirement. AANMS will provide RACP with trainee outcomes, and a certificate of completion will be provided to trainees on satisfactory completion of the course and exam.
For further information, please contact the AANMS’s Education Officer.