Member for Bathurst Paul Toole has welcomed 11 intern doctors who have started working at the Bathurst Hospital, launching a new phase in their careers.
The District’s new starters are among more than 1000 intern doctors starting across NSW this year, the largest intake of any state or territory in Australia.
“The new doctors who have started their internships will be entering a training program with networked hospitals throughout the state,” Mr Toole said.
“The new doctors will rotate between metropolitan, regional and rural hospitals over two years to ensure their experience is not only rewarding but also diverse.”
This year, NSW offered a record number of 1,041 intern doctor positions, which is an increase of 35 per cent since 2011.
Of these, 150 interns belong to the Rural Preferential Recruitment scheme, where interns undertake the majority of their training in rural hospitals.
Mr Toole said that the intake into this rural scheme has doubled since 2012, and aims to encourage interns to work in rural hospitals once they finish their training.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for interns to experience the challenges and rewards of working and living in our rural communities and hopefully after this experience many will return to rural and regional areas to set up their practice and become a part of our community,” Mr Toole said.
Interns are medical graduates who have completed their medical degree and are required to complete a supervised year of practice to become independent practitioners.
The NSW Government is investing $2.8 billion in a record workforce boost of 8,300 frontline hospital staff, including 5,000 nurses and midwives, with 45 per cent of those for regional and rural areas.
For more information about the recruitment of Junior Medical Officers, visit the NSW Health website: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/jmo/Pages/default.aspx