Entry requirements for vocational training - 2022
Australia has a responsibility to train medical graduates efficiently and effectively to produce high quality vocationally trained medical practitioners capable of independent and safe practice.
Fundamental to the quality of medical education in Australia are the medical colleges who are responsible for the rigorous training standards and arrangements that set the benchmark for specialist practice. The process of trainee selection is currently complex and lacks transparency with no widespread definition of best practice.
Entry requirements for vocational training commonly consider a range of academic and vocational considerations, and in some instances, clinical and research pre-requisites. Entry requirements to vocational training should facilitate the merit and needs-based selection of the appropriate number of trainees into each vocational training pathway. However, the selection process has become overly onerous for the candidates with the lack of consistency and transparency encouraging curriculum vitae (CV) buffing and other anti-competitive behaviour. Medical Colleges and the Australian Medical Council (AMC) must actively ensure selection processes are anti-discriminatory and protected against nepotism. This position statement sets out the principles the AMA considers should underpin entry requirements for vocational training including prerequisites for selection being transparent and equitable.
