COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL INTERNSHIPS (CMI)Frequently Asked Questions

Contents

COMMONWEALTH MEDICAL INTERNSHIPS (CMI) Frequently Asked Questions

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

What happens during the application process?

I'm not eligible but I think I am a special case.

If I decline a CMI internship, can I still get a state or territory internship offer?

Can I pull out of a CMI internship offer at any time?

What if a hospital offers me an internship and I don't want it?

THE INTERNSHIP

Where exactly are these internships located?

Will I have to go where I'm told?

What are the pay and conditions like?

Can I have assistance with moving expenses and finding accommodation?

Who do I work for?

Private hospital internships aren't as good as public hospital ones are they?

Can I swap my place?

Can I defer my place?

RETURN OF SERVICE

Why is there a return of service obligation?

How does my internship count towards my return of service?

THE APPLICATION PROCESS

What happens during the application process?

Step by step guide.

If you are interested in being considered for a CMI internship, you will need to e-mail your

fully completed application to by 5pm, Friday 25 October 2013. E-mails time-marked after this will not be accepted.

When applications close, your application will be assessed for eligibility. If you are eligible,

your application, along with all other eligible applications, will be sent to thehospitals offering internships for the CMI in 2014. This is expected to occur by 30 October 2013. All applicants will be notified of their eligibility for the CMI and whether their applications have or have not been forwarded to participating hospitals.

Hospitals will review the applications and decide if and who they would like to offer aninternship to.
If a hospital would like to talk to you about an internship, they will contact you directly. It is important that you provide current contact details, including phone number, in your application. Offers are expected to be made between 4-15November 2013. (Note - applicants will not be given the contact details of hospitals).

Applicants who are offered an internship by a hospital will have until 15 November 2013 to accept. Once the applicant has accepted an offer, both the hospital and the applicant must send an email to the CMI email address indicating that an agreement has been reached. (An agreement occurs when the second of these emails has been received by the Commonwealth). The applicant will then have until 29 November 2013 to sign a Return of Service Agreement with the Commonwealth Government. After this is done, an employment contract can be finalised between the applicant and the hospital. Start dates and relocation issues will be a matter for the hospital and the intern.

Applicants who do not accept an offer of a CMI internship, or have not been offered a CMI internship by a hospital, by 15 November 2013, maystill be offered a position by a hospital between 2-13 December 2013 on a one-off basis, if:

the applicant is stilleligible;
the applicant still wants an internship under the CMI; and
places are still available.

Irrespective of when an offer is made during this period, applicants who are offered an internship during this period will have until 5pm on Friday 13 December 2013 to accept the offer and until 5pm on Friday 20 December 2013 to sign a Return of Service Agreement with the Commonwealth. Please note that there is no guarantee that any applicant will be offered an internship under the CMI initiative in 2013.

I'm not eligible but I think I am a special case.

The eligibility requirements are clear and alleligibility criteria must be met. Applicants must:

have completed their university medical course in Australia in 2013; and
have met, or will have met prior to commencement of internship, the Medical Board of Australia English language requirements for registration purposes; and
not be an Australian Citizen; and
meet immigration requirements to allow them to work in Australia in 2014 (refer to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection website for details

There will be no exceptions.

If I decline a CMI internship, can I still get a state or territory internship offer?

Information about CMI applicants will be shared with state and territory government bodies with responsibility for internship recruitment. It is up to each state and territory to decide whether you are eligible for one of their internships if you decline a CMIinternship offer.

Can I pull out of a CMI internship offer at any time?

You are not considered to have made a commitment until you and the hospital have separately written to the CMI administratorsadvising that you have accepted an offer. That means that a hospital can make you an offer but you are only committed when you have agreed to accept that offer.

An acceptance occurs when both you and the hospital inform the CMI administrators by e-mail ()that you have accepted the offer of internship. The act of the hospital simply making you an offer creates no obligation on your part.

However, once you have accepted the offer and the CMI administrator has received official separate confirmation from you and from the hospital, this represents a commitment. If you withdraw after that stage, you will no longer be eligible for an CMIinternship.

If you withdraw after you have signed a Return of Service Agreement you will no longer be eligible for a CMI position and you will have breached the Return of Service Agreement. In this case, the Commonwealth may seek to recover the cost of funding the internship.

What if a hospital offers me an internship and I don't want it?

It is unlikely that a hospital will make an offer to an applicant who has not expressed an interest in receiving an offer for that hospital. Remember, hospitals will have the opportunity to interview potential applicants and it would be expected that both the hospital and applicant would get some sense from that process whether an offer would be welcome.

However, an offer is only officially accepted when a hospital advises the CMI administrator that an offer has been made and accepted, and the applicant also advises the CMI administrator that an offer has been made and accepted. If the hospital advises the CMI administrator that an offer has been made and accepted, and you have changed your mind, you can inform the CMI administrator accordingly.

If only one party - the hospital or the applicant - advises the CMI administrator that an offer has been accepted, it is not official. Both parties must separately confirm this in writing for an acceptance to be confirmed by the CMI administrator. Once both emails have been received, the CMI administrator will write back and acknowledge receipt of this confirmation.

THE INTERNSHIP

Where exactly are these internships located?

Most of the CMI placements are likely to be based in Queensland and Western Australia which have a largernumber of accredited training positions in private hospitals, although placements in other states and territories may be possible. They will be focused primarily in rural and regional areas.

For a private hospital to be able to host internships under the CMI initiative, it must:

be accredited to train interns by a state or territory postgraduate medical council;
be large enough to provide the required internship rotations either in-house or be willing and able to rotate interns to other hospitals accordingly; and
be located in rural or regional areas or be able to offer interns a regional, rural or remote training component.

The number of private hospitals which can offer these requirements is limited. The list of available internship locationsfor CMI internships is being developed. At this stage we are unable to confirm the exact location of internships for 2014.

Will I have to go where I'm told?

Nobody will be forced to take a CMIinternship. If you apply early, you will probably get the opportunity to discuss an internship with one or more potential hospitals. This is because participating hospitals will receive the list of CMI applicants soon after the application stage closes. Hospitals can then contact interns and discuss the possibility of an internship with them. This will give both the hospital and the applicant the best chance of finding a "good fit”.

However, if you have not agreed to an internship by 15 November 2013 and

you still want a CMI internship;
you are still eligible; and
internship places are still available under the CMI initiative

you may still be offered a positions between 2-13 December 2013 if any participating hospitals still have capacity and are willing to make an offer.

What are the pay and conditions like?

Hospitals involved in the CMI initiative are required to offer interns salary and conditions at least equivalent to those which exist in public hospitals in the state or territory.

Can I have assistance with moving expenses and finding accommodation?

These issues need to be taken up with the hospital which will employs you. Ongoing living or accommodation costs will not be covered under the CMI initiative.

Who do I work for?

You will sign an employment contract with the hospital so you will be its employee. You will not be an employee of the Commonwealth Government at any time, including when you are fulfilling your return of service obligation.

Private hospital internships aren't as good as public hospital ones are they?

Private hospitals offering internships attain the same level of accreditation as public hospitals do for training interns. A private hospital cannot train interns unless it has been appropriately accredited to do so. So, the quality of training you receive in a private hospital will be at least equivalent to that you would receive in a public hospital.

Can I swap my place?

No. You cannot swap your intern place.

Can I defer my place?

No. Internships must be completed in2014 and return of service within 4 years after that.

RETURN OF SERVICE

Why is there a return of service obligation?

When states and territories fund internships, which is their responsibility, they receive the benefit of the work that interns do in the hospital. The return of service obligation recognises that CMI internships are provided through public funding and that this should deliver benefits to the Australian community.

Successful applicants under the CMIare most likely to work in a rural or regional areafor one year in exchange for their internship. This assists with ensuring all Australians have access to the health services they need. You are encouragedto seek independent legal advice about the Return of Service Agreement.

How does my internship count towards my return of service?

The important things to note for the CMI initiativeare that:

by acceptinga CMI internship position you will need to enter into a Return of Service Agreement (ROSA) with the Commonwealth. The ROSA will require you to complete twelve months return of service in an approved location, generally a regional or rural placement located in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification - Remoteness Areas (ASGC-RA) 2-5. The return of service obligation is to be completed within five years of commencing internship;
failure to complete the internship year or the return of service period will result in a breach of the ROSA and may require you to repay the cost of providing the internship place. This may be up to $130,000;
should your CMI internship be based in an area which qualifies as meeting the return of service obligation, the successfully completed 12-month internship will count as the return of service obligation;and
if part of your internship is completed in an approved return of service location, this will count towards the 12 month return of service period.

Commonwealth Medical Internships 2014