National audit of internship acceptances

The aim of the audit is to ensure that applicants have the most equitable and timely opportunity to obtain an intern position in Australia and to minimise the number of vacancies at the start of the clinical year. With increasing graduate numbers, this process has been increasingly important in ensuring graduates have the best possible access to intern placements.

The following audits will be undertaken in 2013:

1)    An audit of the number of funded internship positions for 2014 and the number and distribution of applicants in each jurisdiction.

2)    A number of audits throughout the intern allocation process determining how many applicants are holding multiple acceptances. Applicants identified as having accepted multiple positions will be contacted and asked to select their preferred position within a reasonable timeframe.

3) An audit of applicants reported as unplaced by jurisdictions will be undertaken to determine how many applicants are still seeking an internship for the 2014 clinical year. Some jurisdictions may choose to use this data late in the allocation process to focus recruitment efforts on unplaced applicants.

Should it be required, a vacancy support service may then be initiated at the end of the year, creating a centrally managed process to assist in linking any remaining unplaced applicants with unallocated vacancies across the jurisdictions.

Data to be collected

Information from applications for internships for the clinical year 2014 will be disclosed to the central administrator for the National Audit project.  The information disclosed will be restricted to the following:

  • Surname
  • First Name
  • Date of birth
  • University at which you are currently studying or studied
  • Residency status
  • E-mail address
  • Phone/Mobile number
  • AHPRA student registration number  

This information will only be disclosed to the audit administrators. The administrator will use the information to determine the total number of applications received nationally, whether applicants have applied for and accepted multiple positions and whether applicants are yet to receive an offer of a position anywhere nationally.

The administrator may communicate with the Medical Board of Australia and/or the state to which an applicant has applied for the purpose of verifying applicant details. The administrator may also communicate with the jurisdictions for the purpose of identifying unplaced applicants. The Audit is conducted separately from the application processes, however the data collected may be utilised differently in each jurisdiction as outlined in their Terms of Use.

Applicants who are identified as having accepted more than one position will be contacted and asked to confirm, by a certain date, which position they plan to take up for internship commencing in 2014. Applicants who continue to hold multiple positions for extended periods of time will be handled in accordance with the relevant jurisdiction’s Terms of Use. SA MET reserves the right to withdraw an offer to applicants identified as having multiple acceptances if a decision is not made within a reasonable period of time.