Related Questions
Question: What If I Have Special Circumstances Which Make It Hard For Me To Work In Certain Places?
Β
Answer. All States and Territories Have processes for considering special circumstances. Some of the types of circumstances that are generally approved are: where you may have certain health conditions that mean you need to be close to certain hospitals or specialists; where you have dependents, such as young children, and are unable to relocate due to care arrangements; and where you and your partner want to work as doctors in the same location.
Generally requests to stay in certain locations, for reasons such as work commitments of partners or needs of school aged children are not granted.
Question: I Have Received My Intern Offer. But I Would Like to Defer It. Is This Possible?
Β
Answer. This will partly depend on how long you wish to defer for.Β
If you just wish to defer for a a few months. Once you have your offer and are in discussions with your new employer make enquiries. It may be possible to negotiate a later start with your employer. Most employers will generally prefer that you start on time, so that you are not out of sync with your colleagues. But there might be some advantage for the employer in you attending orientation but then starting a bit later as it will probably help them to fill out roster gaps.
Β
On the other hand. If you wish to defer for a complete year. Then you will need to check the policy of the State or Territory that has provided you an Intern offer. In some cases (for example Victoria) you will be permitted to defer and your place will be held for you the following year. In most other cases you will need to reapply the following year and check whether your priority status has altered. In most cases you have the same priority status.
Also bear in mind that it is unclear how long you can defer commencing your internship. However, theΒ Medical Board of AustraliaΒ expects that once you have commenced your internship you will have completed this process within 3 years.
Β
Question: I Am a Doctor With a Medical Degree From Outside Of Australia. Can I Apply For Internship?
Answer. Unless you obtained your medical degree from a New Zealand Medical School. Then the brief answer to this question is no.
I would love to stop there. And I really think you should as well. But there are rare circumstances where you may be able to obtain an internship with a medical degree from outside of Australia. But the Medical Board of Australia strongly advises against this option and so do I. For good reasons. Firstly the whole Australian medical internship system is designed to ensure that Australian medical graduates are able to undertake an internship. Not for overseas graduates. Secondly (and as a result of the first point) it is very rare to be offered the chance.
Some States and Territories will not even consider an application from an IMG for internship. Others will only do so in limited circumstances, for example, the Northern Territory will accept applications from IMGs who may have done a medical student elective or clinical observership in the Northern Territory and who have experience in rural, remote and indigenous health locations. But even then these applicants are at the bottom of the priority list for obtaining an internship.Β South Australia will accept applications. But again you are bottom of the list. Queensland will also accept applicants, but only if you have never worked as a doctor. And again you are bottom of the list.
A final note on this question is that the majority of IMGs who do obtain a medical internship position each year in Australia generally have Australian citizenship or permanent residency.
Question: I Have Heard That Some Graduates Miss Out On Internship. Is This True?
Answer. Whilst it is theoretically a possibility that some medical graduates miss out on Internship according to information provided by HETI for the most recent year of intern applications no-one was actually left at the end of the process without an offer.
Only Australian citizens and permanent residents are guaranteed an intern position under the COAG agreement. However, there are generally enough intern positions available for those students who have come to Australia to study medicine and the Commonwealth Private Hospital program offers additional spaces for those that may miss out.
That being said. It is also clear that many graduates choose to drop out of the application process themselves. So not everyone who applies gets an offer. The assumption is that some graduates take up similar intern opportunities in other countries upon graduation.
(Disclaimer: all information here has been sourced in good faith but things do change so you should always do your own due diligence in such matters, we are providing this information to aid you in your application but take no responsibility for any outcomes)
We’d welcome feedback from any Intern programs in relation to the accuracy of the above information.
10 Comments
Thanks for sharing such informative and detailed article about medical internship in australia.
You are welcome Joshua
Hi Anthony,
I am an Australian citizen currently studying medicine in the UK and had been planning to work in Australia following the competent authority pathway, however if it is possible I would like to do my internship here. Will my status as an Australian citizen prioritize me over other IMGs if I apply for an internship position? I understand the difficulty in applying but I would like to commence my work in Australia at the earliest given opportunity. Furthermore are there any other factors that may impact my chances when applying for an internship position (e.g. examination scores, work experience)?
I would advise completing FY1 first. Its extremely hard to obtain an internship even in your situation. After FY1 you should not have any problems gaining a job offer.
Hello Anthony
I am a Cameroonian studying medecine in China I will like to know if itβs possible for me to apply for internship in Australia
Hi as per the post. It is not possible to do internship in Australia as an IMG.
Hi
I am a Australian citizen and intend to do a medical degree in Sri Lanka. Can I do internship in Australia (after completing 5 years MBBS degree programme)?
Hi Akka whilst this is possible it is highly improbable and you are better off focussing on completing your registration requirements in Sri Lanka.
Hi Anthony,
Thank you so much for your insight! As an international student doing medicine at an Australian institution in NSW, I was wondering if in the worst case scenario when I cannot secure an internship in the year I graduate, is it possible for me to re-apply for internship the following year? Does that further decrease my chance of getting one by any chance? Also, are there any practical ways that I can start doing during my years at med school to increase my chance of getting an internship as an international student given that internship positions in NSW, apart from being reserved for domestic students first, are sorted out to the rest in a rather random way?
Hi Abigail
You can apply the following year. There is no impact here. It’s basically a fresh application. So you don’t get any advantage or disadvantage. In terms of what you can do during medical school. Actually, there is plenty.
The process of allocating internships is NOT “random” in NSW.
It’s based on strategic priorities and a matching process which utilises an algorithm.
The main thing I would encourage you to do is undertake rural rotations during your medical school. This will help you apply for the rural internship positions both in NSW as well as other States and Territories where they offer these. This will significantly improve your chances of gaining an internship as an international student.