Internship Guide 2020 - Updated

The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 2021 Internship applications remains unclear at this early stage.
In this section, you will find a summary of what we know at the time of publication in late April 2020.
• AMA and all state AMAs committed to advocating for all doctors in training, regarding both the safety and
wellbeing of DIT, and also their continuing medical education
• However it must be accepted that Covid-19 is a huge disruption to business as usual, and interns and other
medical professionals have already experienced much change to the usual course of junior medical officer
training in 2020 so far
• Changes include that JMOs are being asked to step up into roles and ‘scope of practice’. The AMA asserts
that nevertheless trainees must ALWAYS be provided with adequate induction and supervision when
undertaking new roles.
• The AMA demands adequate PPE be provided for all medical staff and no staff member should feel
concerned about being forced to perform clinical duties without adequate protection. Additionally, AMA
asserts that even at this time (indeed, especially at this time) the right of healthcare workers to be looked
after emotionally, to be protected in taking sick and quarantine leave, and to not have to work dangerously
fatigued must be ensured.
• AMA advocates that at this time all trainee exams should be postponed, but when a new date is able to be
set after the crisis dies down there must also be plenty of warning provided to applicants so as to ensure
proper time to prepare
• Many interns and final year medical students will have had their rotations and clinical experiences affected
by Covid-19, and the AMA asks that the relevant accreditation bodies take this into consideration when
deciding on requirements for students and JMOs to progress through their training. This flexible approach
should also be taken when considering admittance into various training programs.
Source: https://ama.com.au/article/ama-advocacy-support-doctors-training-during-covid-19-response
State-specific changes
VIC
Due to the COVID-19 situation, the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria will be incorporating online
interviews into its match process to recruit interns for the year 2021. There will be an opportunity to have a test
run of the recorded interview before the actual interview about 1 week in advance. The actual interview will take
place on 4th June 2020, wherein applicants will be asked to answer 5 questions. For applications for internship
made in 2020 for the 2021 intake, no referees will be required.
NSW
The NSW application process requires certification of the authenticity of application documents by a Justice of
the Peace within the last 12 months. If you cannot access a Justice of the Peace at this time a commonwealth
statutory declaration signed by an authorised witness will be sufficient.
SA
Details remain unconfirmed at this time but the Postgraduate Medical Council will likely follow the advice of
AHPRA.
WA
If applicants already have a referee/references, they can submit this in the mandatory section of the WA
application process. If however, due to increased workload of staff in this COVID-19 crisis, a referee has not
been attained, applicants may simply put TBA in the mandatory section. Hospitals may ask for the referee/
references down the track if this is submitted.
NT
Due to the COVID-19 virus, the application process has changed from the traditional process of an interview,
two referee reports and a CV. Now, everyone is required to submit a CV and a preference-based allocation
system will be used. However, for oversubscribed hospitals, a pure ballot system will be used. Referees will be
nominated. There will be no interviews this year. 18