The New Fellow Survey is a chance for new Fellows to share their experiences of the transition from Advanced Training to unsupervised professional practice and report on how well their training prepared them to make this transition.

2023 New Fellow Survey insights

Ten per cent (n=160) of eligible participants returned completed surveys.

Key findings are summarised below and in the 2023 New Fellow Survey Summary Report:

• The majority (87%) of respondents indicated that they felt prepared overall for unsupervised practice.
• Over 85% of respondents reported that they felt prepared for communication, judgement and decision making, medical expertise, teaching and learning, and ethics and professional behaviour.
• Between 66-79% percent of respondents indicated that they felt prepared for leadership, management and teamwork, cultural safety, and quality and safety.
• Between 45–56% of respondents indicated they felt prepared for health policy, systems and advocacy, and research.

Respondents indicated the key challenges that they faced in their transition related to feeling confident as a leader and making independent decisions regarding patient care, working in an environment with less support available and more administrative tasks, and balancing workload expectations and other demands, including concerns regarding job security.

Suggestions by respondents to make their transition to unsupervised practice easier included: additional support during training and the transition to Fellowship, alignment between learning experiences and the requirements of Fellowship, and provision of coordinated mentorship, supervision and support in training. 
   
The College is dedicated to continual improvement of its training programs and facilitating a smooth transition to Fellowship through the provision of resources and support. This survey will be offered annually from 2024.There are a number of initiatives underway to address key concerns raised by new Fellows within the 2021 and 2023 surveys.  

Eligibility

All members who completed an RACP Division, Faculty or Chapter training program between 2 October 2020 and 31 March 2022 were eligible to take the survey. 

Survey enquiries 

Contact us if you have any questions about the survey.

How we use the results

Survey results will inform how we can best support you during this transition period and improve training across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. For example, your insights will help us to:

• understand challenges encountered in the transition from trainee to unsupervised professional practice
• identify areas for training improvements
• provide tailored support and/or resources on topics you want to know more about
• better understand the positions you occupy and the barriers associated with acquiring specialist roles

Your responses are strictly confidential and used for quality improvement purposes. Identifying details have been removed and only aggregated results are presented.

2023 New Fellow Survey terms and conditions