COFFS COAST WELCOMES NEW INTAKE OF JUNIOR DOCTORS

Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh

Singh has welcomed the commencement of 24 medical graduate interns at Coffs Harbour Health Campus this week.

Mr Singh said that a record intake of almost 1,100 medical graduate interns will start work in NSW public hospitals this week – more than any other state or territory in Australia.

“I want to extend a warm welcome to the class of 2023 and thank them for choosing a rewarding career in health. Each of these new starters will play an important role in keeping the people of the Coffs Coast safe and healthy for years to come,” Mr Singh said.

“These new medical graduate interns will also provide a major boost to their new colleagues – our dedicated health staff across the region who have performed remarkably during a very challenging few years.”

Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said the new medical graduates will be welcomed with open arms to our rural and regional communities, with almost one third or 396 of the positions in the bush.

“The NSW Nationals and Liberals in Government are committed to strengthening our regional health workforce, and ensuring the people of rural and regional NSW continue to have access to the high quality healthcare they need and deserve,” Mrs Taylor said.

“Interns seeking to complete their internship in our regions were able to apply through the Rural Preferential Recruitment pathway and, this year, 176 Rural Preferential intern positions were available – an increase of 13 positions from 2022.”

Interns are medical graduates who have completed their medical degree and are required to complete a supervised year of practice in order to become independent practitioners.

The new doctors starting their internship will be entering a training program with