Heath service welcomes new doctors

MORE than forty doctors will soon be starting twelve-month internships at Bendigo Health.

The service’s supervisor of intern training Dr Amy Harding said about 50 per cent of this year’s interns studied at the Monash Regional Clinical School in the hospital precinct.

“About 70 per cent of the interns have come from rural or regional areas in Victoria, and this year we’ve also seen that our retention rate from internship [in 2022] to the junior medical officer roles has been about 70 per cent as well,” she said.

“Now we’re starting to see that, we’ve actually been able to develop end-to-end training.

“We’ve got many doctors with us now that have started their internship here at Bendigo Health and have then done their prevocational training through to their specialty training and are now consultants with us here at Bendigo Health.”

Whitney James and Oliver Little both graduated with Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees at Monash’s Bendigo campus.

Both are from regional or rural Victoria, Dr Little from Castlemaine, and Dr James from Benalla, and they said this helped fast-track their application to intern at the hospital.

The Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria gives priority to the location preferences of regional or rural-based doctors who want to stay and work outside major metropolitan areas.

Dr Little, who said he sees himself working in an emergency department in the future, said the exposure to patients is very good at Bendigo Health.

“It parallels to most of the Melbourne hospitals,” he said.

“But you’ve still got the small country town atmosphere where doctors like Amy know you by your first name, say ‘G’day’ to you down the street, and that’s not something that you get in the city so much.

“For me growing up in the country, I like that small country town vibe, and that sort of plays through throughout the whole culture of the hospital.”

Dr James said she believes Bendigo Health has been proactive in retaining medical graduates.

“Even offering job opportunities in fifth year in the psychiatry and emergency department so that you have a bit of money as a student, and also get experience and hopefully create those community ties so you can stay long-term,” she said.

“Often, you’ll get approached to do a research project once you’re confirmed as an intern, which is something that you might not get if you hadn’t had those ties originally.”