Left to right: Peter Burns, Dr Shade McClymont, Dr Zhong Ren Ong, Dr William Wong
Internship or Post Graduate Year 1
Internship or Post Graduate Year 1, is generally where junior doctors first experience rural medicine. This may be through a rural rotation out from a metropolitan based internship position or through undertaking a full internship in a rural or remote area. There is no requirement to be a member of the GP training program in order to apply for an internship, preferences for regional positions will be given to those who are seriously interested in working in regional SA.
Internship is undertaken as a series of work rotations designed to expose trainees to a range of clinical experiences in different medical specialities. Three core rotations in emergency medicine, medicine and surgery, and two rotations from a range of other specialities including anaesthesia, general practice, paediatrics, palliative care, relieving, psychiatry, obstetrics, etc.
Following successful completion, general medical registration is granted.
The Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils provides information on prevocational training.
Left to right: Dr Jessica Farrar, Stewart Woods
Internship is a mandatory stage of training for any doctor to enable them to progress to general registration. It is undertaken as a series of work based rotations designed to expose trainees to a broad range of clinical experiences. To meet the Medical Board’s general registration requirements all interns must complete three core rotations – Emergency medicine, medicine and surgery. They will also complete two ‘elective’ or ‘non-core’ rotations in other clinical areas such as cardiology, anaesthesia, general practice, paediatrics, palliative care, psychiatry, obstetrics, etc. Interns must meet the requirements for general registration prior to them progressing to the next stage of training.
Interns can apply for rural generalist training during internship to commence in the PGY2 year.
There is no requirement to be a member of a general practice training program in order to apply for an internship, preference will be given to those seriously interested in working in regional SA.
Left to right: Dr William Wong, Dr Zhong Ren Ong, Peter Burns
Internship Eligibility criteria
- The intern must have graduated from a medical school in the last two years.
- Applicants who completed their medical degree at a non-Australian university must have completed both their Australian Medical Council exam (AMC CAT MCQ and AMC Clinical examination)
- The intern can demonstrate that they meet the English Language Skills Registration standard
- The intern must be able to commence working by the January start date, which includes compulsory orientation, and fulfil the minimum 12 month contract.
- Have completed electronic medical record (Sunrise EMR and PAS) training.
- Be able to demonstrate that they will meet the requirements for registration with AHPRA.
- Have not commenced or completed an internship or worked as a doctor before.
- Be an Australian Citizen, Australian Permanent Resident, Australian Temporary Resident, New Zealand Citizen or a New Zealand Permanent Resident
- Have a residency status or VISA that allows them to work unrestricted in Australia for the duration of their prevocational training
- Rural pathway interns must preference a rural site as their first preference. (applicants are asked to preference two available rural networks as well as three metropolitan health networks) Applicants who preference a rural LHN as their first preference will be asked additional questions within their application form
- Have completed and submitted an online application, including the provision of valid supporting documentation, by the application closing date.
Late applications will not be accepted
Applicants that do not meet the eligibility requirements are deemed not suitable for employment and are not eligible to apply for an intern position in South Australia.
Training components
Core Term - Medicine
10 weeks
This term must provide supervised experience in caring for patients who have a broad range of medical conditions, and opportunities for the intern to participate in assessing and admitting patients, managing inpatients and discharge planning.
Core Term - Surgery
10 weeks
This term must provide supervised experience in caring for patients who together represent a broad range of acute and elective surgical conditions, and exhibit the common features of surgical illness, including the metabolic response to trauma, infection, shock and neoplasia. Approved terms will provide generalist experience in surgery and may be in general surgical units and some surgical sub-specialties.
Core Term - Emergency Medicine
8 weeks
This term must provide closely supervised experience under in assessing and managing patients with acute, undifferentiated illnesses, including assessing and managing the acutely ill. Normally this is a term in an emergency department or selected general practices with involvement in emergency medicine. Not all general practice terms will meet these requirements.
Non Core Terms x 2
9-10 weeks
Non-core terms may be undertaken across a range of specialties and clinical settings, providing interns with a broad variety of clinical learning opportunities, including different supervision arrangements.
How to apply
All internship positions are advertised through the SA Health Careers Website. For more information about the applications process for SA Health see links below.
Key dates |
|
| Intern applications open | TBA May 2024 |
| Intern applications close | TBA June 2024 |
| Referee reports close | TBA June 2024 |
| Interviews | June/July 2024 |
| Offers commence | TBA July 2024 |
| Late vacancy management process commences | TBA November 2024 |
Relevant links |
|
| SA MET Important Dates – Interns | Link to external site |
| Intern Positions | Link to external site |
| AHPRA Medical Board Registration | Link to external site |
| SA Health Careers | Link to external site |
| RDWA – Road to Rural (R2R) Intern Program | Link to external site |
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