The RACP welcomes the results of the Medical Board of Australia’s sixth annual Medical Training Survey (MTS). This anonymous survey was open between August and October 2024, and was completed by 41 per cent of RACP trainees, including Overseas Trained Physicians who are currently undertaking supervised practice in Australia (n=3,069).  

The findings point to small but important improvements in key areas such as workload, trainee wellbeing and the provision of safe training environments.  

Key findings: 

The quality of training and clinical supervision remains high: 

• 76 per cent of trainees would recommend their current workplace to others, which has increased from 75 per cent in 2023.  

• 86 per cent of trainees rated the quality of their clinical supervision as excellent or good, which is unchanged from 2023. 

We continue our work to improve the support we provide to our members who occupy vital supervisor and educational leadership roles. We are also looking to also improve our recognition of these roles in 2025. 

A need to legitimise and protect teaching and learning time in service delivery contexts: 

• 49 per cent of RACP trainees felt their job responsibilities prevented them from meeting training requirements sometimes or often 

• 73 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that their employer supports them to attend formal and informal teaching sessions, which is an increase from 70 per cent in 2023.  

• 22 per cent of RACP trainees did not have access to protected study time/leave. 

In 2025, the College will be initiating a new Workforce and Healthcare Reform Advocacy program which will feature increased calls for protected training and education time for members. We are also looking at our Accreditation Standards to see how these can better support legitimising and protecting education activities as a core function of accredited training settings. 

The importance of safe training environments: 

• 76 per cent of trainees agreed/strongly agreed there is a positive culture at their workplace, which is an increase from 74 per cent in 2023. 

• The incidence of bullying, harassment, discrimination and racism, both experienced and witnessed, by trainees remains high (22 per cent experienced, 33 per cent witnessed). The reporting of these behaviours is increasing, as is satisfaction with how the reporting process is managed. 

We continue our important work to improve the psychological safety of trainees in training settings and we maintain our zero tolerance stance on unprofessional behaviours. Please refer to the College President’s recent communication on civility and our related services. 

Trainee wellbeing is critical: 

• 74 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that their workplace supports wellbeing, which is an increase from 71 per cent in 2023 

• 53 per cent of trainees agreed/strongly agreed that the RACP supports flexible training arrangements, which is an increase from 49 per cent in 2023. 

• Yet only 29 per cent of trainees agreed/strongly agreed that the RACP provides access to psychological and/or mental health support services, which is a decrease from 31 per cent in 2023. 

• 30 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that there are safe mechanisms for raising training/wellbeing concerns with the College, which is a decrease from 33% in 2023.  

Our Member Health and Wellbeing Strategic Plan sets out the College’s aim to improve member wellbeing at individual and systematic levels. Individual support is free and readily available through the RACP Support Program and our range of other resources. 

Call for clearer communication regarding training requirements: 

• 68 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that the RACP clearly communicates the requirements of training. This is an increase from 64 per cent in 2023. 

• 56 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that the RACP clearly communicates changes to training programs, which is unchanged from 2023. 

• 61 per cent of RACP trainees agreed/strongly agreed that they knew who to contact at the College about their training program, which is also unchanged from 2023.  

We know we still have work to do to meet trainee expectations for quality and timely services. We have invested in new resources for our Member Support Centre and are launching new technology and processes to support improved training management. We look forward to you enjoying the benefits of these exciting initiatives in 2025. 

Accessing the Results  

We encourage you to further explore the MTS results via the:  

• 2024 MTS RACP summary report or 

• Interactive reporting dashboard (the 2024 data will be available in early 2025). 

The reporting dashboard enables users to apply filters and create tailored reports based on their results of interest. For the first time this year, we are able to explore results broken down by Basic Training and Advanced Training.  

The RACP uses the results of the MTS to:  

• Strengthen RACP training programs and activities   

• Drive improvements in training settings by identifying settings with results that indicate potential concerns, and work with local leaders to explore and leverage the data to advocate for greater support with training 

• Acknowledge high performing training settings by identifying those with results that point towards excellence in areas such as quality of clinical supervision, overall satisfaction or support for trainee wellbeing 

• Inform systemic change by using the results in the development of strategic approaches to improve physician training, our service offerings, and the overall culture of medicine 

Thank you to all RACP trainees who participated in this important survey. 

Further details about the survey can be found on the Medical Training Survey website.