In 2013, there were 11,832 advanced vocational training positions/trainees in programs in Australia (Table 4.13). This constitutes two thirds (66.1%) of the total number of vocational training positions/trainees. General practice had the highest number of advanced trainees (4,087), followed by adult medicine (1,513), emergency medicine (1,339) and surgery (983).
Table 4.13 also shows the distribution of advanced training positions/trainees across states and territories.
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Australian total differs from the sum of state/territory totals in some specialties because it includes trainees in overseas placements. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
Addiction medicine(a) | 10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
Adult medicine(a) | 477 | 464 | 257 | 145 | 103 | 28 | 14 | 27 | 1,513 |
Anaesthesia | 200 | 151 | 152 | 46 | 69 | 15 | 9 | 15 | (d)657 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 20 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 65 |
Dermatology | 19 | 13 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
Emergency medicine(b) | 373 | 326 | 330 | 100 | 141 | 31 | 20 | 18 | 1,339 |
General practice - GPET | (c)1,317 | 841 | 896 | 315 | 374 | 122 | 109 | .. | (e)3,932 |
General practice - ACRRM(a) | 37 | 13 | 67 | 4 | 20 | 4 | 5 | 1 | (f)155 |
Intensive care | 99 | 78 | 52 | 22 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 281 |
Medical administration | 29 | 26 | 31 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 107 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 48 | 43 | 43 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 159 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 37 | 13 | 22 | 6 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 102 |
Ophthalmology | 39 | 22 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 90 |
Paediatrics(a)(b) | 178 | 131 | 92 | 42 | 60 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 556 |
Palliative medicine(a) | 11 | 16 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 80 |
Pathology | 103 | 81 | 57 | 19 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 301 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 79 | 66 | 32 | 14 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 213 |
Psychiatry | 144 | 131 | 78 | 22 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 418 |
Public health medicine | 25 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 81 |
Radiation oncology | 52 | 28 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 122 |
Radiodiagnosis | 110 | 96 | 69 | 40 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 364 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 84 | 44 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 191 |
Sexual health medicine(a) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 11 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
Surgery | 351 | 280 | 173 | 66 | 76 | 10 | 10 | 17 | (g)983 |
Total | 3,859 | 2,916 | 2,476 | 914 | 1,052 | 250 | 208 | 143 | 11,832 |
Overall, advanced trainees were reasonably well distributed across states and territories when compared with their relative proportions of the Australian population. For the larger specialties, the proportions of trainees across states and territories also roughly mirrored the relative proportions of the population in each (Table 4.14).
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Includes registrars on the Independent Pathway only. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 41.7 | 4.2 | 20.8 | 12.5 | 8.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
Adult medicine | 31.5 | 30.7 | 17.0 | 9.6 | 6.8 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 1.8 | |
Anaesthesia | 30.4 | 23.0 | 23.1 | 7.0 | 10.5 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.3 | |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 30.8 | 32.3 | 13.8 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 4.6 | 0.0 | 3.1 | |
Dermatology | 38.8 | 26.5 | 20.4 | 10.2 | 4.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
Emergency medicine | 27.9 | 24.3 | 24.6 | 7.5 | 10.5 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 1.3 | |
General practice - GPET | (c)33.5 | 21.4 | 22.8 | 8.0 | 9.5 | 3.1 | 2.8 | .. | |
General practice - ACRRM(a) | 23.9 | 8.4 | 43.2 | 2.6 | 12.9 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 0.6 | |
Intensive care | 35.2 | 27.8 | 18.5 | 7.8 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | |
Medical administration | 27.1 | 24.3 | 29.0 | 0.9 | 9.3 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 3.7 | |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 30.2 | 27.0 | 27.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 1.3 | |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 36.3 | 12.7 | 21.6 | 5.9 | 20.6 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | |
Ophthalmology | 43.3 | 24.4 | 11.1 | 7.8 | 10.0 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.0 | |
Paediatrics | 32.0 | 23.6 | 16.5 | 7.6 | 10.8 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 0.9 | |
Palliative medicine | 13.8 | 20.0 | 21.3 | 15.0 | 6.3 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 1.3 | |
Pathology | 34.2 | 26.9 | 18.9 | 6.3 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 2.0 | |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 37.1 | 31.0 | 15.0 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.8 | |
Psychiatry | 34.4 | 31.3 | 18.7 | 5.3 | 8.9 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | |
Public health medicine | 30.9 | 17.3 | 11.1 | 8.6 | 7.4 | 2.5 | 9.9 | 12.3 | |
Radiation oncology | 42.6 | 22.9 | 20.4 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 4.9 | |
Radiodiagnosis | 30.2 | 26.3 | 18.9 | 10.9 | 8.5 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 3.2 | |
Rehabilitation medicine | 44.0 | 23.0 | 18.8 | 7.3 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 0.5 | |
Sexual health medicine | 30.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 15.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | |
Sport and exercise medicine | 36.7 | 43.3 | 13.3 | 0.0 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
Surgery | 35.7 | 28.5 | 17.6 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.7 | |
Total | 32.6 | 24.6 | 20.9 | 7.7 | 8.9 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | |
Population proportion (%)(b) | 32.0 | 24.8 | 20.1 | 7.2 | 10.8 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.7 |
First–year Advanced Trainees
In 2013, there were 3,184 first-year advanced vocational training positions/trainees (Table 4.15). The specialty with the most first-year advanced vocational training places was general practice (1,152), followed by adult medicine (437).
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Emergency medicine and paediatrics data account for trainees undertaking paediatric emergency medicine. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Adult medicine | 132 | 122 | 78 | 49 | 29 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 437 |
Anaesthesia | 61 | 41 | 53 | 12 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 201 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 8 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 |
Dermatology | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Emergency medicine(a) | 93 | 76 | 91 | 18 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 332 |
General practice - GPET | (d)400 | 248 | 244 | 91 | 110 | 32 | 30 | .. | (e)1,152 |
General practice - ACRRM(b) | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
Intensive care | 36 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 96 |
Medical administration | 11 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 32 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 26 | 26 | 25 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 89 |
Occupational and environmental medicine(c) | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
Ophthalmology | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 29 |
Paediatrics(a) | 36 | 30 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 119 |
Palliative medicine | 12 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 67 |
Pathology | 31 | 12 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 65 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 23 | 14 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 54 |
Psychiatry | 56 | 29 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 119 |
Public health medicine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Radiation oncology | 13 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 27 |
Radiodiagnosis | 19 | 17 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 65 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Sexual health medicine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Surgery | 86 | 59 | 42 | 17 | 19 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 238 |
Total | 1,070 | 747 | 662 | 248 | 290 | 64 | 62 | 44 | 3,184 |
Female Trainees
Half (6,160 or 52.1%) of all advanced vocational trainees were female (Table 4.16). This proportion was far higher in some specialties, with females comprising three-fifths or more of advanced vocational trainees in sexual health medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, rehabilitation medicine, palliative medicine, paediatrics, public health medicine, dermatology, and general practice (70.0%, 69.2%, 68.6%, 67.5%, 67.1%, 64.2%, 63.3% and 63.3% respectively).
A few of the smaller specialties showed relatively low proportions of females; ophthalmology and surgery were notable for the low proportions of female advanced trainees (27.8% and 28.1% respectively).
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Australian total differs from the sum of state/territory totals because it includes trainees in overseas placements. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Adult medicine(a) | 232 | 235 | 104 | 65 | 46 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 735 |
Anaesthesia | 93 | 82 | 59 | 26 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 295 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 12 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 34 |
Dermatology | 14 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 |
Emergency medicine(b) | 153 | 141 | 138 | 38 | 62 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 554 |
General practice - GPET | (d)873 | 536 | 546 | 200 | 274 | 82 | 64 | .. | (e)2,547 |
General practice - ACRRM(c) | 9 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 39 |
Intensive care | 31 | 30 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 |
Medical administration | 16 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 43 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 32 | 30 | 31 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 110 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 |
Ophthalmology | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | (f)25 |
Paediatrics(b) | 125 | 97 | 62 | 29 | 45 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 373 |
Palliative medicine(a) | 7 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 54 |
Pathology | 65 | 46 | 31 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 177 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 42 | 40 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 120 |
Psychiatry | 73 | 70 | 47 | 13 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 230 |
Public health medicine | 20 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 52 |
Radiation oncology | 30 | 12 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 65 |
Radiodiagnosis | 39 | 36 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 124 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 60 | 33 | 21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 131 |
Sexual health medicine(a) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Surgery | 108 | 86 | 42 | 17 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 276 |
Total | 2,062 | 1,532 | 1,208 | 477 | 570 | 134 | 120 | 57 | 6,160 |
Part–time Training
Some colleges provide the opportunity for trainees to train part-time subject to approval by the employing authority, such as the hospital or laboratory.
In 2013, there were 1,576 part-time advanced trainees across specialties. This represents just over one-eighth (13.3%) of all advanced trainees (Table 4.17).
Part-time training was most common in sexual health medicine (35.0%), general practice (25.0%) and psychiatry (18.7%).
A number of other specialties were notable for relatively small numbers of trainees undertaking part-time training. It should be noted, that the availability of part-time training and interrupted training varies across specialties. Further information on this can be found in Appendix B.
Medical specialty | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Emergency medicine and paediatrics data account for trainees undertaking paediatric emergency medicine. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
Addiction medicine | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Adult medicine | 14 | 20 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 |
Anaesthesia | 3 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
Anaesthesia - pain medicine | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Dermatology | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Emergency medicine(a) | 64 | 37 | 43 | 26 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 193 |
General practice - GPET | (d)388 | 128 | 263 | 78 | 84 | 47 | 40 | .. | (e)1,020 |
General practice - ACRRM(b) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Intensive care | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Medical administration | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
Obstetrics and gynaecology | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Occupational and environmental medicine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ophthalmology | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Paediatrics(a) | 32 | 22 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (f)75 |
Palliative medicine(c) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (f)11 |
Pathology | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
Pathology and RACP (jointly) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
Psychiatry | 28 | 24 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 78 |
Public health medicine | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
Radiation oncology | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Radiodiagnosis | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 |
Rehabilitation medicine | 10 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 |
Sexual health medicine | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Sport and exercise medicine | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Surgery | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 575 | 267 | 367 | 145 | 122 | 57 | 44 | 5 | 1,576 |
Discontinuation of Training
Trainees may discontinue training for a variety of reasons, with either the trainee officially withdrawing from the training program, or the college or training provider terminating or dismissing a trainee in accordance with college regulations or employment conditions.
In 2013, there were 188 advanced trainees who discontinued training (Table 4.18). This is an increase of 82.5% from 2012 and is more closely approaching numbers from 2010 than other recent years.
NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT | Aust | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(a) Includes ACT figures for general practice. Source: Medical colleges and GPET | |||||||||
2009 | 40 | 36 | 28 | 7 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 130 |
2010 | 72 | 58 | 45 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 213 |
2011 | 42 | 31 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 115 |
2012 | (a)39 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | (b)103 |
2013 | (a)63 | 37 | 49 | 12 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 190 |