A closer look at veterinary internships in Australia

There are many excellent veterinary internships available in Australia and an increasing number of new graduates seeking them. However, several AVA members  have recently voiced their concerns about the consistency and quality control of some internships. The AVA has therefore undertaken research to help develop a clear understanding of the current situation. Poor quality internships don't serve the graduates or the profession well.

The research included online surveys to current and past interns and internship providers. The results from this research confirm an issue with quality control in veterinary internships.

Close to one-third of interns are dissatisfied with their internship and one-third say that the internship program did not fulfil their career and learning objectives. This was even higher when equine practice interns were considered  alone, where 50% of graduates said they were dissatisfied.

The survey link was promoted twice through  the AVA eLine. A total of 52 graduates who are undertaking or have completed an internship participated in the intern survey, while 12 providers completed an internship provider survey.

Some of the other key findings:

•   86% of internships are undertaken over a 12-month period
•   51% of internships lead to the graduate completing  a higher professional qualification
•   interns work an average of 59.9 hours per week
•   the average annual salary is $48,472
•   the average hourly payment  is $15.56 (with a range of $8.97/hour to $31.38/hour)
•   80% of interns are expected to work overtime, but only 9% are paid for this work
•   the average amount  of time that a supervising veterinarian is in attendance and available to the graduate is 67% (range, 5–100%)
•   20% of graduates thought the level of supervision they were provided was inadequate
•   34% of graduates published  a journal article
•   53% of graduates were paid study leave and of these 37% had the associated conference  registration fee paid by the practice
•   there are on average 3 interns employed at the same time in a practice, with up to 15 in one practice
•   30% of interns said there were no clear goals for the internship program
•   34% had no clear written program and agreement.

There is evidence that some of the programs that new and recent graduates are participating  in are substandard, providing low wages and having little educational value. Some interns said that they felt they were being used as a source of cheap labour.

The primary purpose  of an internship should be as a sound educational program that prepares  a veterinarian for high-quality service in practice, higher professional qualifications and for advanced  specialty training rather than a service benefit to the hospital.

The AVA will be working to produce  clear guidelines for internship programs. This will inform providers how to fulfil their legal responsibilities and to provide quality programs and a clear checklist for those seeking an internship so potential  interns can clearly identify quality programs that fulfil their needs before accepting  a position.

In the meantime, private practices that employ interns are reminded that the veterinary intern's employment conditions are covered under the Animal Care and Veterinary Services Award 2010. These are the minimum conditions that must be provided, but there is nothing  to stop providers offering better  conditions or interns negotiating higher wages and conditions.

The relevant clauses specific to internships in the award are:

Clause  3.1  Definitions and interpretation

intern means a veterinary surgeon who is enrolled in a structured training program where the intern is provided direct supervision and training by at least one registered  veterinary surgeon.
internship means the structure training program for an intern. An internship will be accomplished  in not more than two years.

Clause 19.2 Residency/internship

1.   A veterinary surgeon undertaking a program of residency or internship must receive payment in accordance with the award for required practice duties

2.   At the commencement of the residency!internship an agreement will be entered into which includes clarification of the following matters:

•     the goals of the program and the expectations of both parties
•     the time devoted to required practice duties and a mechanism to respond to additional requirements;
•     the provision and type of structured training and supervision and whether this includes formal teaching time (such as lectures and tutorials); and
•     the access that the resident!intern will have to the practice for observation and study

3.   For the purpose of this clause, required practice means the agreed clinical duties and responsibilities primarily associated with the training program in which the veterinary surgeon is currently engaged

4.   Agreements under this clause must be recorded in writing and kept as part of the time and wages records kept by the employer

This means that, by law, the very minimum that can be paid is the Level 1A Veterinary Surgeons rate, which from 1 July this year became  $46,184 for a 38-hour week. When put as an hourly rate, it equates to $23.37 an hour.

The clauses relating to overtime for veterinarians are clear. Time worked in addition to 38 hours per week, except when on call, needs to be paid or provided as time in lieu. This can be put into an annual allowance, but needs to be in writing.

All full-time employed veterinarians (including interns) are entitled to be paid study leave after every 12 months of employment and the practice must pay the course fee.

It is also clear that many of the intern programs do not fulfil the requirements under the award of what constitutes a structured program.

Any feedback relating to the survey results or what should be included in the AVA internship guidelines should be emailed to debbie.neutze@ava.com.au.

Debbie Neutze
Senior Policy Officer