SA IMET

Optimised preference program

The 'Optimised Preference Program' applies to all applicants.

The program begins by randomly listing and allocating a number to all Intern (PGY1) applicants and randomly allocating a number from 1 to 6 to all hospitals.

  1. The applicants are listed in random order, and wherever applicants are considered in turn, it is according to the order of this list.
  2. The hospitals are listed in random order, and wherever hospitals are considered in turn, it is according to the order of this list.
  3. The program allocates all applicants in the first allocation group (i.e. SA graduates who are Australian permanent residents and graduates of an Australian/New Zealand medical faculty who did year 12 in a South Australian secondary school & who are Australian permanent residents) to the highest possible hospital preference available.
  4. In ascending order, the program checks each hospital to see if it is oversubscribed.
  5. If a hospital is oversubscribed, the program first checks if applicant couples have been allocated to that hospital. If yes, the program checks the availability of two places at the couple's second preference only. If available, they are transferred.
  6. If the couple's second preference is not available, the program moves to the next couple. This is repeated for all couples in that hospital.
  7. If the hospital remains oversubscribed, the program checks, in ascending order, the availability of the second preference for each individual (non-coupled) applicant, transferring them if a place is available. This process is repeated until either the hospital is no longer oversubscribed, or the program has checked the second choice availability for every applicant assigned to that hospital.
  8. The program repeats this process for every hospital.

The program then continues this process for third and subsequent preferences for all oversubscribed hospitals until no hospital has allocations in excess of the number of positions available.

The "Optimised Preference Program" is run in order for each of the categories of graduates from the priority list detailed in Allocation Priority Listing.

Note: The SA IMET finalises the number of available intern positions in SA following yearly discussions with the intern training hospitals.

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