To the Editor: The South Australian Institute of Medical Education and Training (SA IMET) recently conducted a review of internships in South Australia and proposed three potential changes.1 First, new prevocational training networks would rotate individual interns between more than one major teaching hospital. Under the existing system, most interns remain exclusively at one location, although there is an established southern network incorporating the Flinders Medical Centre, and some other interns undertake one rotation at a rural hospital or general practice. Second, 2-year graduate contracts would replace 1-year contracts. Third, applicants would be allocated internships on “merit” rather than through optimised preferences based on the priority groups used by SA IMET, which give priority to SA graduates and Australian citizens.2
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- 1. South Australian Institute of Medical Education and Training. Review of internship in South Australia. http://www.saimet.org.au/images/docs/review_of_internship_in_sa_v4.pdf (accessed May 2012).
- 2. South Australian Institute of Medical Education and Training. Priority Groups. http://www.saimet.org.au/index.php/junior-doctors/interns/priority-groups (accessed May 2012).
- 3. Adelaide Medical Students’ Society, Flinders Medical Students’ Society. Internship Submission. https://amss.org.au/sites/default/files/20110217%20AMSS-FMSS%20Internship %20Submission.pdf (accessed Oct 2011).
- 4. South Australian Institute of Medical Education and Training. Newsletter. http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ff5e879e16b708876c8ffb092 &id=72ae213cfd (accessed Jun 2012).
- 5. South Australian Institute of Medical Education and Training. Internship in South Australia. http://www.saimet.org.au/index.php/junior-doctors/interns/internship-in-sa (accessed May 2012).
We thank the following individuals who contributed significantly to the student survey and this article: Daina Rudaks, Neville Fields, Candice Houda, Karthik Venkataraman and Georgina Hanuss.
No relevant disclosures.