Q: Are prevocational trainees required to pass a completed term?

No. At the end of each year the health service’s Assessment Review Panel will make a global judgement on whether a trainee has reached the required standard and achieved all the Prevocational Outcome Statements by the end of the year. The panel will review each term assessment but there is no requirement to ‘pass’ a minimum number of terms.

Q: How will General Registration be granted?

General Registration will continue to be granted by the Medical Board of Australia after satisfactory completion of an accredited PGY1 (intern) year.  The decision to progress in training from provisional to general registration will be informed by recommendations of the training providers’ Assessment Review Panel.

Q: As a PGY2, do I need to complete 4 terms or 5 terms?

PGY2 trainees need to complete a minimum of 47 weeks of training to be considered for a Certificate of Completion by the training providers’ Assessment Review Panel (ARP). In NSW all PGY2s are allocated five terms.

Completed terms must also meet the National Framework training program requirements. For more information please review this flyer distributed to training providers.

Q: Will the AMC National Framework be implemented in 2024 for PGY2 trainees in 2024?

The AMC has allowed states to determine whether they wish to implement the National Framework for PGY2 in 2024 or 2025 (at which point it is mandatory). In NSW the decision has been made to implement the framework from 2024 given that NSW already accredits PGY2 programs.

Q: Do PGY2 trainees need to undertake a term with A-Undifferentiated patient care?

PGY2 trainees are required to complete terms with exposure to the clinical experiences of:

• A – Undifferentiated illness patient care
• B – Chronic illness patient care
• C – Acute and critical illness patient care

The term classification of ‘undifferentiated illness patient care’ would usually be applied to Emergency department terms or General Practice terms where a trainee gains experience in assessing and managing patients with undifferentiated illness. For a term to be classified as providing ‘undifferentiated illness patient care’ the trainee would have clinical involvement at the point of first presentation and when a new problem arises (whereby the trainee assesses patients that have not previously been worked up).

Q: As a PGY2 in 2024, am I able to opt out of the National Framework requirements?

NSW Health trainees employed in prevocational training positions are required to be working in accredited terms (and programs) and as such, are unable to ‘opt out’ of completing the requirements of the prevocational training program. Any PGY2’s not employed in a prevocational training position would be required to meet the Medical Board requirements for continuing professional development including having a CPD home.

Q: Are the EPAs mandatory for 2024?

Within NSW, the implementation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) in 2024 is not a mandatory requirement for training providers. The use of EPAs is to be supported by the e-Portfolio which will be implemented in 2025. Training providers have the option to implement paper-based EPAs in 2024.

Paper based EPAs can be found on the AMC National Framework website here.

Q: Does the National Framework requirements apply to IMG trainees?

The National Framework is for prevocational trainees. IMG trainees must adhere to the requirements as outlined by the Medical Board of Australia.

Q: When can training providers expect the term mapping preparation activity correspondence and supporting documents?

The Chair of the Prevocational Accreditation Committee (PAC) will be writing to training providers in the coming weeks with the request to complete this preparation activity along with supporting template and guide.

Q: When will the new assessment forms be implemented?

The new assessment forms will be implemented at the commencement of the 2024 clinical year. For the 2023 clinical year training providers are to continue using the existing term assessment forms. Further information about the new forms will be provided later in the year.

Q: The National Framework references Director of Clinical Training (DCT), will NSW continue to use the title Director of Prevocational Education and Training (DPET)?

Yes, NSW will continue to use the title of Director of Prevocational Education and Training (DPET).

Q: Prevocational trainees are only allowed to do 25% in a subspeciality, could a trainee do two general medicine terms?

General Medical terms accredited for prevocational trainees provide opportunities for exposure to a range of medical patients across multiple internal medicine subspecialities.  Therefore, it would be reasonable for a prevocational trainee to complete up to two General Medical terms as long as they are two different terms with different teams and term supervisors.

Q: What does undifferentiated illness patient care mean?

Undifferentiated illness patient care provides prevocational medical trainees with experience in assessing and managing patients with undifferentiated illnesses.  For example, the trainee will be involved at the point of first presentation and when a new problem arises.  This might occur working in a range of settings such as in an emergency department or in a general practice.

Currently accredited medical or surgical terms where the prevocational trainee is part of a team caring for patients admitted either through emergency or electively would generally not attract the classification of undifferentiated illness patient care.  In some circumstances, a term where the predominate responsibility of the prevocational trainee is to provide after hours ward cover may attract the classification of undifferentiated illness patient care.