Selection into specialist training programs: an approach from general practice.

Procedures to select medical specialist trainees aim to predict which junior doctors will become the best specialists. A 1998 review of Australian postgraduate selection processes recommended use of the principles of good assessment. Australia has expertise in national procedures used by medical schools to select students for undergraduate and graduate courses, but little experience in national specialist training program selection. A system for selection into postgraduate general practitioner training, based on a national "selection-centre" approach used in the United Kingdom, is being piloted in Australia. Initial evaluation shows the piloted system to be feasible but further evaluation is needed. Any selection-centre approach must be adapted to the Australian health care context and have the confidence of the trainees, the professional colleges, the training providers and the public.