MORE than forty doctors will soon be starting twelve-month internships at Bendigo Health.<\/p>\n
The service\u2019s supervisor of intern training Dr Amy Harding said about 50 per cent of this year\u2019s interns studied at the Monash Regional Clinical School in the hospital precinct.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 70 per cent of the interns have come from rural or regional areas in Victoria, and this year we\u2019ve also seen that our retention rate from internship [in 2022] to the junior medical officer roles has been about 70 per cent as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we\u2019re starting to see that, we\u2019ve actually been able to develop end-to-end training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitney James and Oliver Little both graduated with Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees at Monash\u2019s Bendigo campus.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt parallels to most of the Melbourne hospitals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019ve still got the small country town atmosphere where doctors like Amy know you by your first name, say \u2018G\u2019day\u2019 to you down the street, and that\u2019s not something that you get in the city so much.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr James said she believes Bendigo Health has been proactive in retaining medical graduates.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOften, you\u2019ll get approached to do a research project once you\u2019re confirmed as an intern, which is something that you might not get if you hadn\u2019t had those ties originally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MORE than forty doctors will soon be starting twelve-month internships at Bendigo Health. The service\u2019s supervisor of intern training Dr Amy Harding said about 50 per cent of this year\u2019s interns studied at the Monash Regional Clinical School in the hospital precinct. \u201cAbout 70 per cent of the interns have come from rural or regional […]<\/p>\n