You are now into Term 2 of your intern year and while it is still very early in your career, it is a good time to create space for identifying and reflecting on your goals.
These goals are unique to you and can sit across different timeframes. They might relate to your next term, your intern year or where you want to be in the next three to five years.
They do not need to be big or fixed. Your goals might include:
Performing well in your next rotation
Asking for regular feedback
Speaking up in team discussions
Improving a specific clinical skill
Contributing to a piece of research
Starting to think about future training pathways
Building experience in an area of interest.
What matters is beginning to define what you want to work towards.
Time moves quickly in medicine. Many of the things that strengthen your capability and future opportunities take sustained effort over time. Having early awareness of what may be required and starting to take small, consistent steps makes a real difference.
It is also important to be strategic. You only have so much time and energy alongside your clinical work. Focusing on a small number of high value goals will have far greater impact than trying to do everything.
AMA Victoria’s professional development and careers team has developed a practical resource to help you map out your professional goals and identify the actions that will support your progression towards training pathways. Access the resource here.
If you would like to talk things through, AMA Victoria members can book a 15-minute Career Call with our careers team. This is an opportunity to clarify your goals, sense check your direction and focus on the actions that will make the biggest difference over time.
Mardi O’Keefe is the Director of Engagement & Professional Growth at AMA Victoria.