Prevocational – PGY1/PGY2 training requirements
Graduates of Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian accredited medical schools and doctors who have sat and passed an approved medical registration examination, including the New Zealand Registration Examination (NZREX Clinical) complete prevocational medical training.
The prevocational medical training programme ensures that postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) and postgraduate year 2 (PGY2) doctors (collectively known as interns) continue to build on their undergraduate education
For doctors who have passed an approved medical registration examination, it assures the Medical Council of New Zealand (the Council) that the doctor has the broad-based core competencies and experience needed for medical practice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The intern training programme
Interns are required to complete a minimum of 12 months in each postgraduate year, however an intern remains a PGY1 or PGY2 until the requirements for the relevant postgraduate year are completed. Interns must complete their internship in an intern training programme provided by an accredited training provider.
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This guide outlines the requirements for PGY1 and PGY2
Further information about the components of intern training is detailed in the intern guide and summarised below.
ePort
ePort is an online electronic record of learning which tracks the intern’s progress and records the skills and knowledge that an intern gains throughout their training. Information stored in ePort includes:
- self-reflections on progress made in each of the 14 learning activities
- an intern's professional development plan (PDP)
- a record of meetings between intern’s and their clinical supervisors and prevocational educational supervisors.
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The ePort privacy statement explains how the Council collects, stores, uses and shares information through ePort and outlines the standards and requirements in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the relevant privacy principles.
Clinical attachments
During PGY1 and PGY2, interns undertake a series of clinical attachments, which provide a range of clinical experience. Each clinical attachment is accredited by the Council to ensure they provide quality supervision and assessment. Attachments are 13 weeks long and may take place in a variety of health care settings, including hospitals, primary care, and other community-based settings.
Clinical attachments are accredited against the Council’s Accreditation standards for clinical attachments.
Community-based clinical attachments
A community-based clinical attachment is an educational experience in a community-focused service in which the intern is engaged in caring for the patient and managing their illness in the context of their family and community.
All interns are required to complete a community-based attachment (CBA) as one of their eight clinical attachments during prevocational medical training.
Learning activities
The range of essential skills and competencies an intern needs to attain by the end of prevocational medical training is described in 14 learning activities. Interns are expected to regularly review and record self-reflections against all 14 learning activities, indicating areas of strength and areas for further development.
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This guide outlines the essential skills and competencies an intern needs to accomplish by the end of prevocational medical training.
Supervision
Prevocational medical training incorporates aspects of the apprenticeship model of 'learning on the job’ as part of a team. Senior doctors supervise and assess the interns’ performance, providing them with ongoing feedback and gradually increasing their responsibilities.
Prevocational medical training is overseen by prevocational educational supervisors and clinical supervisors. For more information about supervision, please click here.
Professional Development Plan (PDP)
A PDP is a short planning document that records an interns learning goals. The PDP is developed by the intern with support from their prevocational educational supervisor. It is a living document to be updated throughout the year, particularly as interns reflect on their learning activities and findings from their multisource feedback. At the beginning of every new attachment the clinical supervisor will assist the intern to develop goals that are specific and achievable for that attachment – the intern should create at least three goals per clinical attachment.
Multisource feedback
All interns need to complete multisource feedback (MSF).
MSF is a six week process that involves the intern completing a self-assessment and nominating a minimum of 12 colleagues willing to provide anonymous feedback on the intern’s practice. MSF helps interns identify areas to focus on for their development and informs their PDP.
The Medical Council has developed a range of resources to support interns and their prevocational educational supervisors to complete and gain the greatest value out of this process.
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This document is a guide for interns and includes information on what MSF is about and step-by-step instructions to complete the process.
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This document is a guide for prevocational educational supervisors on how to support their interns to complete the MSF process and provides information on how to interpret the collated report before discussing the results with their interns.
Policy on prevocational medical training
The Council’s policy on prevocational medical training outlines the requirements for each component of prevocational medical training from PGY1 through to the end of PGY2.