A contingent of 43 interns are being welcomed as the newest wave of doctors at Mackay Hospital and Health this week.
Chief Executive Jo Whitehead said graduates had chosen Mackay HHS as their preferred place to start their training helping them to transition into full-time medical work.
“Mackay HHS is the perfect place for an internship as we have an excellent program and facility that is led by an experienced and dedicated team of medical professionals,” Ms Whitehead said.
“Interns will be in a position to take advantage of the varying opportunities regional and rural health facilities present.”
Most interns are graduates of the University of Queensland and James Cook University.
Ms Whitehead said interns will spend their first two weeks at Mackay Base Hospital completing an orientation program followed by year rotating through different areas of the hospital and health service.
“We are fortunate to have one of the best simulation centres outside of Brisbane where interns can undertake real life case scenarios just as they would encounter in the ward or emergency department,” she said.
“The interns will go on to complete their training at the Mackay Base, Bowen, Proserpine and Mater hospitals, and a local GP exposing them to a wide variety of different experiences and medical situations.”
The year-long internships consist of three core rotations in General Medicine, General Surgical and Emergency and electives chosen from Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Radiology, Mental Health, Rural and Intensive Care.
Ms Whitehead said Mackay HHS internships provide great generalist training as well as offer experience with the integrated electronic medical record and the digital hospital environment.
“We always hope the junior doctors choose to continue their training in Mackay at the end of their internship.
“There are good opportunities for doctors to stay here and move into programs such as the basic physician pathway and training in areas such as paediatrics, anaesthetics, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology and emergency medicine.”
