Results of intern survey released

17 May 2018

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) and Medical Board of Australia (MBA) undertook a survey of interns in September 2017, designed to assess how well medical school prepares students for their internship.

The survey was voluntary and anonymous. De-identified data were used in analysis of survey results. After adjustments for incomplete data, 661 responses (representing about 20 per cent of interns) were included in the data set.

Respondents agreed that medical school had prepared them to undertake the role and responsibilities of an intern, with the following responses:

• Strongly agree: 16 per cent
• Agree: 59 per cent
• Neutral: 15 per cent
• Disagree: 8 per cent, and
• Strongly disagree: 2 per cent.

Respondents also thought medical school had prepared them in skill areas such as:

• clinical skills, including taking a history and examining patients, and patient-related skills such as communication with patients and involving patients in decisions
• other skills such as using handbooks and guidelines, preventing cross-infection, IV cannulation, knowing one’s own limitations, and participation in multi-disciplinary teams

• prescribing medications and IV fluids
• nutritional care, error reporting, and certain aspects of familiarity with hospital systems and self-management skills.

Most respondents did not think that medical school had prepared them well for issues such as seeking support for psychological distress, bullying and harassment, or raising concerns about colleagues who were distressed or not performing.

The data from this survey has improved our understanding of how best to align training with the real demands of the job. The AMC and MBA will be working with medical schools and other relevant stakeholders as we strive to improve intern preparedness.

You can find out more details about the results of the survey here

If you have any questions about the survey you can contact the AMC by email at internsurvey@amc.org.au.