COVID-19 and intern requirements for 2023

26 May 2023

The Medical Board of Australia changes requirements for interns directly affected by COVID-19 in 2023 and confirms a return to business as usual from 2024.

From 2020 to 2022, the Board revised requirements for interns who had their rotations interrupted due to COVID-19 related leave or because of redeployment. With COVID-19 mandatory isolation rules relaxed across Australia and fewer interns requiring access to COVID-19 flexibility, the Board has reduced its previous COVID-19 flexibility for 2023 interns, while acknowledging that interns may need to take leave for COVID-19 related illness or to isolate.

The Board expects that interns will complete the core terms and 47 weeks full-time equivalent (FTE) accredited supervised practice, unless they had to take genuine COVID-19 related leave (for COVID-19 illness or to isolate).

2023 interns

This applies to interns who started their internship from 1 November 2022. Interns:

• who had to take COVID-19 related leave (for COVID-19 illness or to isolate) are required to complete at least 45 weeks FTE supervised clinical experience (up to two weeks less than the standard 47 weeks required) and
• must complete the accredited core terms.

The intern will need to provide details of the leave including dates and the reason for leave.

2022 interns

For information on requirements for 2022 interns who started their intern year before 31 October 2022, please see the FAQs on the COVID-19 updates page.

2024 interns

For interns starting their internship from November 2023 onwards, the Board expects intern training to return to business as usual and interns to meet the requirements of the Board’s registration standard.

For further information see the frequently asked questions on the COVID-19 updates page.