2025 RACP New Fellow Survey Results

Key findings from the 2025 NFS include: 

Need to improve and support training experiences

• A lack of college support and maintaining work-life balance remain key training concerns.

• Perceptions of assessments are changing. The perceived utility of the research project significantly increased from 2024, but the perceived utility of work-based assessments declined.

• A very high proportion of respondents felt prepared for unsupervised practice overall and there were increased levels of preparedness in all domains of professional practice from 2024.

• New Fellows continue to feel less prepared in some key areas including health policy, systems and advocacy; and research.

 Need for targeted support for the transition to Fellowship

• Many find the transition from Advanced Trainee to Consultant/Specialist to be challenging.

• Adjusting to the new role could be eased with targeted support, particularly with:

  • finding and maintaining consistent employment

  • navigating administrative requirements (e.g. private practice, billing)

  • taking on leadership responsibilities and feeling confident with clinical decision-making.

• Topics identified as most helpful for further RACP support include: managing the transition from trainee to consultant/specialist, career planning and advice, and artificial intelligence in medicine.

• Awareness of existing RACP resources is low. More than half of respondents were unaware of key resources for this career stage.

For more information, please visit the New Fellow Survey webpage or contact evaluation@racp.edu.au.