PGY1 FAQs

No. PGY1 doctors are expected to satisfactorily complete 47 (full-time equivalent (FTE)) weeks of supervised practice. Although there are circumstances where less than 47 weeks is accepted for genuine sick, personal, carer’s or cultural leave.

The permitted circumstances are:

1. PGY1 doctors who receive an overall satisfactory rating and who complete at least 45 FTE weeks, but less than 47 FTE weeks, of supervised clinical practice due to genuine sick, personal or carer’s leave and complete the prescribed terms in the four types of patient care in a range of specialties.
2. PGY1 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander doctors who receive an overall satisfactory rating and who complete at least 46 FTE weeks, but less than 47 FTE weeks, of supervised clinical practice due to ceremonial or cultural leave and who complete the prescribed terms in the four types of patient care in a range of specialties.
3. PGY1 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander doctors who receive an overall satisfactory rating and who complete at least 44 FTE weeks, but less than 47 FTE weeks, of supervised clinical practice due to any combination of genuine sick, personal or carers’, or ceremonial or cultural leave, and who complete the prescribed terms in the four types of patient care in a range of specialties.

Your Director of Clinical Training or other authorised person is responsible for signing-off at the end of the PGY1 year whether you have met the requirements of the Board’s 2024 registration standard Granting general registration as a medical practitioner to Australian and New Zealand medical graduates on completion of postgraduate year one training including any leave within the permitted circumstances.

Yes, some leave is permitted during the 47 FTE weeks. You can take up to two weeks of professional development leave (preapproved by your employer) and you can take some sick, personal, carer’s or cultural leave as long as you meet the requirements above (See FAQ - Can I finish my PGY1 year in less than 47 (full-time equivalent) weeks?).

All other leave is excluded from the 47 FTE weeks.

Terms in the PGY1 year and the settings in which they occur will generally be predetermined and therefore when you can take recreational leave is also generally predetermined. The Board does not have a role in deciding when you can take recreational leave. This will be between you and your employer.

Terms do not have to be continuous as long as you are given sufficient time in each of the clinical experiences to achieve the PGY1 learning outcomes and that by the end of the year, the terms totalled together, equate to four 10-week terms in the full range of experiences as required by the Board’s 2024 registration standard Granting general registration as a medical practitioner to Australian and New Zealand medical graduates on completion of postgraduate year one training.

No. Although there are allowances for genuine sick, personal, carer’s or cultural leave. (See the FAQ above - Can I finish my PGY1 year in less than 47 (full-time equivalent) weeks?)