The purpose of this study was to determine whether the first cohort of graduates from a new undergraduate medical programme in Botswana were adequately prepared for internship. Methods The authors surveyed 27 interns and 13 intern supervisors on site, who rated intern preparedness for 44 tasks using a previously validated instrument. Tasks were grouped according to the seven roles of the physician in the CanMEDS framework and Cronbach α values confirmed internal consistency. To determine the

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... ection of differences between intern and supervisor ratings for tasks Likert scale ratings were treated as interval data and average scores calculated. Rating frequencies for each role were compared using the χ2 statistic. Reasons for differences between intern and supervisor ratings were explored by determining correlations between scores using the Pearson r statistic. Results Preparedness for all seven roles and the majority of tasks was found to be between 'Fairly well prepared' and 'Well prepared'. The ratings for four roles (Medical expert, Communicator, Collaborator, Professional) differed statistically, but not for the three others (Leader, Health advocate, Scholar). Interns rated their proficiency higher than their supervisors for the tasks in six roles; for the 'Professional' role intern ratings were mostly lower. Correlations between intern and supervisors scores were only statistically significant for three roles (Medical expert, Communicator, Collaborator). Conclusions Intern preparedness for tasks and roles varied but was generally satisfactory. Based on