2023 AMA Specialist Trainee Experience Health Check
The AMA Council of Doctors in Training has released its third AMA Specialist Trainee Experience Health Check (STHC), using the results of the 2023 Medical Training Survey.
For the first time, the STHC now includes an interactive tool that highlights longitudinal trainee experiences reported since the Medical Training Survey began in 2019.
The purpose of the 2023 AMA STHC is threefold:
- Provide a comparison of the training experience between different specialty training programs and identify areas of excellent experience as well as areas for improvement
- Compare training experience outcomes within the same specialty training program between 2021 and 2023, to investigate if any areas have improved or worsened over time
- Highlight key areas that have not seen substantial improvement in the past five years across the majority of colleges.
The report shows the highest-grade trainees gave their overall training program experience a C+ or “a pass”. No training program, either by subsection or overall, received an “A grade” rating from trainees. The results of the health check highlight the trainee experience of Australia’s future medical professionals and how it has changed in recent years. It provides an important insight into the areas where specialist medical colleges and health services can focus on and collaborate to build on the quality of vocational training. The AMA will use the results to inform its advocacy on improvements to training programs and support structure.
The AMA encourages specialist medical colleges and health services to:
- Reflect on how trainees perceive the quality of their training experience
- Review compliance with the Australian Medical Council (AMC) standards for specialty education and training
- Internally review education and training policies, with a particular focus on the areas for improvement.