Intern survey results published

25 Nov 2019

University medical education in Australia is generally in good shape, according to the results of the 2019 Intern Preparedness Survey jointly conducted by the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Medical Council (AMC).

The survey was voluntary and anonymous and conducted in May 2019. Most (74 percent) of interns surveyed think medical school prepared them for the role and responsibilities of an intern. Interns also told us that medical school had given them:

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

Consistent with previous survey results, 2019 interns did not feel as well prepared to:

• prescribe drugs, and
• provide nutritional care, report and deal with error and safety incidents, or understand some parts of hospital systems and self-management skills.

Most interns who did the survey did not think that medical school had prepared them well to seek support for psychological distress, bullying and harassment, or to raise concerns about colleagues who were distressed or not performing. However there have been some significant year-on-year improvements over the three years of survey results. For example, the proportion of respondents feeling either ‘Not at all prepared’ or ‘Poorly prepared’ to raise concerns about bullying or harassment decreased from 33% in 2017 to 24% in 2019.

Thanks to the 2019 interns who took the time to share their views, which will be used to better align medical training with the real demands of the job.  

The results of the survey have been communicated to medical schools and other stakeholders involved in medical education and AMC and the Board will be working with medical schools and other stakeholders to keep improving intern preparedness.

You can find out more about the results of the survey on the AMC and Medical Board websites.

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