1. Purpose

The purpose of this document is to outline policy and procedure(s) relating to the recording of Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMG) assessment interviews of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM; the College) and the permitted use of those recordings.

Recording is primarily undertaken for College internal quality assurance and continuous improvement of processes relating to the SIMG assessment interviews via videoconference but may be used for other purposes in special circumstances.

It has been prepared as a guide to all stakeholders involved in the conduct of the interviews, including prospective applicants and their supporters, members of the SIMG Assessor Panel and the SIMG Assessment Committee, members of the Board, the Council of Education (COE), and other key personnel, including ACEM staff.

For the avoidance of doubt, this document applies solely to the recording of interviews at the SIMG assessment interviews via videoconference; the College does not record the conduct of SIMG assessment interviews where all applicants and assessors attend in person.

2. Definitions

ACEM / the College

means the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

Applicant

in this context, means any SIMG who makes an application to the College for SIMG assessment and is subsequently invited to interview.

Member

means a person admitted as a member of the College pursuant to the provisions of the ACEM Constitution and associated regulations, and, for the purposes of this policy, also includes any other person serving on any College entity or as a College representative.

Recording

means the recording of both video and associated audio components of an interview in real time in digital format.

3. Practical aspects

3.1 The process of recording

The SIMG assessment interviews are normally conducted face to face at the College offices in Melbourne, Australia or Wellington, New Zealand. Where it is deemed necessary by the SIMG Assessment Committee, that one or more participant(s) should attend the interview remotely, i.e. via videoconference, the interview will be recorded. College staff located in Melbourne, Australia will facilitate arrangements for the videoconference and recording. The College currently uses the Zoom platform for the interviews via videoconference and this platform has technology that enables the recording of the interviews.

3.2 Legal and privacy matters

ACEM appreciates the importance of ensuring that all material supplied by applicants and members and others who have dealings with the College is treated in a manner that respects the rights of all individuals (including applicants and assessors) and which meets the requirements of all relevant privacy and related legislation. The College’s Privacy Policy may be accessed through the College website. To the extent of any inconsistency with the College Privacy Policy, the provisions of this policy will prevail.

Accordingly, appropriate written consent for the recording of all interviews and acknowledgement of the terms of this policy will be obtained from all participants involved in the conduct of the SIMG assessment interviews (applicants, assessors and others as identified).

Video footage that is not used within twelve months of recording, will be either destroyed/deleted from College files, or retained for designated training or assessor purposes.

Access to recordings of interviews will not be available to applicants other than as expressly stated in this document or as required through relevant legislation.

3.3 SIMG assessment interview processes

SIMG assessment interviews are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Australian Medical Council (AMC), the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) and the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ). Further, the College is committed to adhering the MBA Good practice guidelines in specialist international medical graduate assessment. The interviews are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the ACEM Regulations Part C and associated guidelines as approved by SIMG Assessment Committee and COE.

The SIMG Assessment interviews are conducted by members of the SIMG Assessor Panel, which operates under the auspices of the SIMG Assessment Committee and COE.

4. Use of station recordings

The recording of SIMG assessment interviews, where one or more participants is attending via videoconference, has been introduced by the College to allow for the review of the conduct of these interviews under specific circumstances. This is primarily for the purposes of review in specific circumstances as defined in this policy. In some special circumstances, approved in accordance with this policy, a recording may be used by the College where a candidate is of the view that a significant procedural error or circumstance has occurred in the conduct of an interview that has resulted in them being disadvantaged in their outcome from that interview.

The recordings are not available to be used as a vehicle for reconsideration of a candidate’s outcome in an interview where, for example, a candidate is of the view that they should have received a different outcome to the one provided and are seeking to have their interview ‘reviewed’.

In summary, recordings of SIMG assessment interviews may only be utilised under the circumstances outlined below:

4.1 As a resource for training purposes

Recorded SIMG assessment interviews have the potential to provide relevant and valuable source material for the calibration, training and education of SIMG assessors. To the maximum extent practicable, recordings will not contain identifying information of the participants. Any use for this purpose will be approved by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (or their nominated representative) and/or in accordance with guidelines approved for this purpose.

4.2 For quality assurance and continuous improvement

Recorded SIMG assessment interviews have the potential to enable the College to improve future SIMG assessment interviews through the review of interview conduct and for the purposes of designing or revising interview components for use in future interviews. Recorded interviews are also of use in enabling the College to audit the performance of assessors or any other individuals involved in the conduct of the interviews. The College regards these activities as being in the best interests of all involved in the SIMG assessment interviews and will not, as a matter of course, seek further consent from individuals for the purposes of the use of interview recordings for audit and/or quality improvement processes. To the maximum extent practicable, recordings will not contain identifying information of the participants. Any use for this purpose will be approved by the CEO (or their nominated representative).

4.3 For review in the event of an applicant complaint about the conduct of an interview

Where an adverse incident is alleged to have occurred during the conduct of a particular interview, and an applicant believes they suffered a significant disadvantage of such effect that the outcome of the assessment was adversely affected, the applicant may submit a request within three (3) business days of the relevant interview as per the provisions of the ACEM Exceptional Circumstances and Special Consideration Policy, for the conduct of that interview to be reviewed.

Applicants must give a full account of the circumstances leading to the application and the basis on which the application is made.

The application will be reviewed by the SIMG Assessment Committee Chair or nominated Deputy Chair, and if accepted, they shall authorise a review of the recording of that interview.

An application will only be accepted if it alleges that there were significant adverse or unusual conduct or circumstances occurring at that interview which affected the outcome, and is not simply a challenge of the assessment.

Where an application is accepted, an independent review of the recording of the interview will be conducted by two members of the SIMG Assessment Committee, nominated by the Chair of that Committee.

After reviewing the recording, the reviewers will make a recommendation as to whether the grounds on which the application is made are valid and that the outcome of the interview may have been compromised by the adverse incident and make a recommendation as to whether the application is to be upheld or dismissed. The Chair of the SIMG Assessment Committee or nominated Deputy Chair, where the recommendation is made by the Chair, will determine whether or not the recommendation is approved.

If the application is upheld, the applicant will be offered the opportunity to re-present their application in a supplementary SIMG assessment interview, where the particular aspects affected by the adverse incident may be addressed. The conduct of the supplementary interview will be in accordance with the provisions of all SIMG assessment interviews, in the composition of the panel and in procedural matters, save that the interview will in particular, address the components of interview that were the subject of the complaint, and other aspects addressed only as needed for clarification or confirmation of the material previously ascertained. The usual ‘conflict of interest’ provisions will apply to the selection of the supplementary interview assessor panel members.

On conclusion of the supplementary interview, the Chair of the assessor panel conducting the supplementary interview will oversee any associated amendment to the applicant’s SIMG assessment report from the initial interview, for approval by the SIMG Assessment Committee.

The College’s Reconsideration, Review and Appeals Policy will not apply to this decision.

Records will be kept in relation to the number of applications received under this section of the policy, the nature of the application and the outcome of the application. This information will be reported routinely to the SIMG Assessment Committee and COE and forwarded to the Office of the CEO for compilation and reporting as part of College processes.