South East Regional Hospital in Bega has welcomed four interns as the newest members of the medical team.
Dr Lachlan Gordon, a specialist medical administration trainee at the hospital, said the recruits are part of the NSW Government’s record $2.8 billion investment to boost the ranks of frontline health staff by 8,300, including 5,000 nurses and midwives over four years.
Across the state, about 2,600 graduates will launch their careers at 130 public health facilities this year – an increase of 58 per cent since 2011.
“The interns at South East Regional Hospital are joining the team taking care of the community from Mallacoota to Batemans Bay on the south coast,” Dr Gordon said.
“It’s fantastic to have them on deck. They’ve hit the ground running and are already contributing to our community.”
“They’re contributing to our medical and surgical teams, looking after patients on the wards in the hospital and in GP practices in the community.”
Interns, Claire Allen, Alexandra Fogg, Paul Lemesurier and Rachael McCormick are on rotation from The Canberra Hospital. Rachael chose to return to Bega after completing her student placement at the hospital in 2018. “From the beginning, as a medical student, it felt like I was a member of a team. I liked the close connections between the staff and the members of the community,” Rachael said. The interns completed a week-long orientation last month before commencing work on the wards. Over the next 12 months, they will gain further experience in general medicine, general surgery, emergency medicine and general practice. “There are a lot of different learning opportunities here. That’s the appeal. The senior doctors encourage the junior doctors to get hands-on experience,” Rachael said. Each week the interns will receive training from the hospital’s specialists in key areas of clinical care. The Intern program is accredited by the Canberra Region Medical Education Council. The program exposes junior doctors to medicine and surgery in regional areas with a combined team of Emergency Medicine and Rural General Practice. In addition to the interns, the hospital also employs trainees in surgery and medicine, including three surgical trainees on rotation from Prince of Wales Hospital, two medicine trainees and prevocational medicine trainee on rotation from the Canberra Hospital and two orthopaedic trainees recruited directly by SERH. “Many of them choose to complete their rotations at South East Regional Hospital for the exposure to clinical learning opportunities and the welcoming senior medical staff,” Dr Gordon said.
