The Medical Training Survey (MTS) is a national survey of doctors in training, led by the Medical Board of Australia and The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). It was developed in partnership with stakeholders and is designed to produce valuable data for analysis and to support the quality improvement of medical training in Australia.
The MTS is conducted annually, from August to early October, coinciding with the medical registration renewal cycle. It has been running for 5 years, since 2019. Each year, doctors in training - including medical interns, prevocational and unaccredited trainees, specialist non-GP and GP trainees, and international medical graduates - are invited to participate in the MTS.
More than half Australia’s doctors in training completed the 2024 Medical Training Survey (MTS) – about 24,000 trainees, and a response rate of 53.4 %.
Below are key insights from the 2024 MTS, with comparisons and trends to previous years.
Doctors in Training 2024 respondents: some demographic characteristics of the 2024 Cohort
Compared to previous years, the 2024 cohort had slightly lower rates of Specialist Non-GP trainees and Specialist GP trainees, but higher rates of International Medical Graduates, and trainees in PGY 2 and 3. Over the years, more trainee respondents have been undertaking their training in regional settings, and less in metropolitan areas. In 2024, more respondents were Resident Medical Officers/Hospital Medical Officers, while less were Registrars, and there were slightly less male respondents, and slightly more female respondents, compared to previous years. There were less respondents aged 30-34 than previous years, and slightly more aged 35-45. Less trainee respondents had completed their primary medical degree in India or UK, compared to previous years, but more had completed their primary medical degree in Sri Lanka, Iran, Ireland, Malaysia, or the Philippines. In 2024, 62% of trainee respondents did not usually spend time providing unpaid care, help, or assistance for family members or others, while 25% had co-parenting responsibilities.
Interns, prevocational and unaccredited trainees and international medical graduates
- Professional Development and Training Plans on the rise for this cohort: 74% of trainee respondents who were interns, prevocational and unaccredited trainees and international medical graduates, had a professional development or training plan, and this is trending upwards (11 percentage points (ppts) more than 2023, and the highest recorded since the Survey began in 2019).
- Less interest in pursuing Surgery, more interest in RACP Physician specialties: Fewer interns, prevocational and unaccredited trainees, and international medical graduate respondents were interested in pursuing Surgery as their specialty (18% in 2024 vs 24% in 2019), or General Practice with RACGP (14% in 2024 vs 16% in 2019), while more interest was reported for pursuing Physician (RACP) specialties (11% in 2024 vs 8% in 2019), and Pathology (2% in 2024 vs 1% in 2019). Other specialties had similar rates of interest to previous years.
Specialist trainees
- More Colleges are supporting flexible training arrangements for Specialist trainees: More specialist trainees agree or strongly agree that their College supports flexible training arrangements, and more agree they know who to contact at the College regarding their training program.
- Access to psychological and/or mental health support services not as strong as last year: Fewer specialist trainees agreed or strongly agreed that their College provides them with access to psychological and/or mental health support services (44% in 2024, down 4 ppts compared to 2023), or safe mechanisms for raising training and/or wellbeing concerns (49% in 2024, down 3 ppts since 2023).
Specialist GP trainees
- Shifts in GP training program preferences and pathways, rural pathways becoming more popular: The number of Specialist GP Trainees in the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) program has been trending downwards (only 56% in 2024 vs 73% in 2021), and less non-vocationally registered doctors (usually IMGs) are undertaking the RACGP’s Practice Experience Program (10% in 2024, down 8ppts since 2023). More Specialist GP trainees are undertaking the ACRRM Rural Generalist Training Scheme, the RACGP Fellowship Support Program, and the RACGP Rural Generalist Fellowship.
- Remote Vocational Training Schemes (RVTS) are providing better communication: More specialist GP trainees agree their RVTS provides clear communication regarding their training program, including changes that affect them and who to contact about their education program. More agree their RVTS engages with them regarding training program structure and content, provides representation and opportunities for discussion with fellow doctors, however, while there was a big improvement in access to psychological and/or mental health support in 2023 compared to previous years, this dropped back slightly in 2024 by 3 ppts (84% in 2024 vs 87% in 2023).
- New questions regarding finances and training fees were added to the MTS in 2024: 63% of Specialist GP Trainees agreed the financial cost of their College training program has led to stress, and only 22% agree that their College provided clear and accessible information about how their fees were spent. However, only 16% agreed that the cost of training has been a barrier to their progression in their training program, which is encouraging.
International medical graduates (IMGs)
- Fewer IMGs in the standard pathway and more in the Competent Authority Pathway: In 2024, fewer IMG respondents were in the standard pathway (46% in 2024 vs 50% in 2019), and more were in the Competent Authority Pathway (12% in 2024 vs 9% in 2019). Other training pathways had similar rates compared to previous years.
- RACGP popular for IMG Specialist Pathway Assessment: Compared to previous years, more IMGs had their Specialist Pathway Assessment done by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (16% in 2024 vs 5% in 2019), while less IMGs had their Specialist Pathway Assessment done by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) (7% in 2024 vs 20% in 2019), the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) (2% in 2024 vs 7% in 2019), or by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) (6% in 2024 vs 13% in 2019). Other colleges had similar rates to previous years.
- More IMGs look to General Registration vs Specialist Registration: In 2024, more IMGs intended to continue on a pathway to General Registration (50% in 2024 vs 42% in 2019), while fewer intended to continue on a pathway to Specialist Registration (41% in 2024 vs 48% in 2019).
Medical Training quality and conditions:
- Orientation improvements: 76% of respondents rated their orientation as good/excellent (up 5 ppts since 2019).
- Clinical Supervision by Registrars on the rise: Day-to-day clinical supervision was increasingly undertaken by Registrars in 2024 compared to previous years (21% in 2024 vs 18% in 2019), and slightly less by Specialists/GP Specialists (74% in 2024 vs 76% in 2019).
- The quality of Clinical Supervision was maintained: The perception of the quality of the clinical supervision improved in 2024 compared to previous years, across all markers, including: helpfulness and accessibility of the supervisor, regular formal and informal feedback, usefulness of feedback, discussion of goals and learning objectives, supporting trainees to meet plan and pathway requirements, opportunities to develop skills, ensuring work is appropriate for training level, and completing work-based assessments. 87% rated the clinical supervision in their setting as good/excellent (which was the same as 2023, and 2020).
- Access to quality Teaching remains strong: While fewer trainees felt they had opportunities to develop their research in 2024 (65%) compared to previous years, opportunities to develop in other areas, such as theoretical knowledge, clinical and procedural skills, and communication and cultural safety, was similar to or higher than previous years (>88%). In 2024, 84% agreed the quality of their teaching sessions was good/excellent (compared to 80% in 2019).
- Employer support for study leave and professional development improves: In 2024, slightly more trainees agreed they had access to protected study time/leave, were able to attend conferences, courses, or external education events, and that their employer supported them to attend formal and informal teaching sessions, compared to previous years. In 2024, less trainees agreed that their job responsibilities often prevented them from meeting their training requirements (7% in 2024 vs 10% in 2019).
- Facilities improve: In 2024, more trainees agreed they had better internet, educational resources, working space, and teaching spaces, compared to previous years.
Workplace environment and culture
- Work/life balance and flexible work arrangements trending up slightly: The number of trainees that agree they have a good work/life balance is trending upwards compared to previous years but remains at 65% in 2024. While only 55% agreed they have access to flexible working arrangements, more trainees were able to access, or were offered, flexible work arrangements in 2024 compared to 2023.
- Workplace environment and culture improvements, but some patients proving difficult: Overall, trainee perceptions of their workplace environment and culture are stable and improving across many markers, including support of staff wellbeing and a positive workplace culture. 78% of trainees had not experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination in the last 12 months. Compared to previous years, patients and/or patient family/carer were increasingly responsible for bullying, harassment and discrimination of trainees (41% in 2024 vs 34% in 2019), while bullying, harassment and discrimination of trainees by colleagues (including Senior Medical staff and nurses) is trending downwards (although they are still responsible for most cases).
- Unpaid overtime becoming rarer: Compared to previous years, less trainees reported that having to work unpaid overtime adversely affected their wellbeing at work (down from 25% in 2019 to 18% in 2024), which points to less demand to undertake unpaid overtime. Indeed, 71% of trainees reported being paid for un-rostered overtime in 2024, vs only 47% in 2019.
- Workloads easing slightly: 47% of trainees perceived their workload as very heavy/heavy, down from 50% in 2019. In the past month, the number of trainees working 41-50 hours is trending down slightly (41% in 2024 vs 43% in 2020), while those working 31-40 hours is trending up (30% in 2024 vs 27% in 2020), although the pandemic likely affected these trends.
- Patient Safety improving: Perceptions on patient safety, including quality of training, raising concerns, processes to support handovers, and training to provide culturally safe care, improved in 2024 and has been trending positively over the years.
Overall Satisfaction
More trainees would recommend their current training position to other doctors (up from 78% in 2019, to 81% in 2024), and their current workplace (up from 76% in 2019 to 80% in 2024).
Future Career Intentions
There was less interest in pursuing medical research (down to 52% in 2024 vs 57% in 2019) or medical teaching (down to 76% in 2024 vs 81% in 2019). Fewer trainee respondents are concerned about securing future employment after training (down to 41% in 2024 from 48% in 2019).
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Medical Training Survey 2024 paints a positive picture of medical training in Australia, with positive trends and improved perceptions regarding training satisfaction, teaching quality, orientation, patient safety, workplace culture and facilities, employer support, workload, overtime, flexible work arrangements and work/life balance, clinical supervision and future career security.
Prepared by the MedicalJobsAustralia.com editorial team.