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Forty interns start at Bendigo Health

Thursday, January 13, 2022
Forty interns start at Bendigo Health Supervisor of Intern Training Dr Sanneil Mathias (centre) with interns Dr Lucas Phelps and Dr Alison Huynh.
Bendigo Health welcomes the largest group of graduates so far to its internship program.

Forty graduates are about to take part in Bendigo Health’s 2022 intern program.

Over the next 12 months, these graduates will gain experience working in the areas of general medicine, general surgery, emergency, renal, oncology, orthopaedics, cardiology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, geriatric medicine and urology.

While their induction process has been slightly different to other years given the pandemic, these doctors-in-training feel prepared and supported by the organisation in taking this next major move in their careers.

Bendigo Health Supervisor of Intern Training, Dr Sanneil Mathias, said it was great that Bendigo Health was granted permission to take on an extra intern for 2022, an increase from last year and an impressive number considering it was only a decade ago that six to 12 graduates were undertaking their internships at the hospital.

“There is a mix of graduates from Melbourne, Monash and other universities including Deakin, and there are some from interstate as well,” Dr Mathias said.

“We have a large proportion that did their clinical placements here at Bendigo Health and an even larger proportion, up to about 80 or 90 per cent, who were regionally based to do their training as junior doctors which is really good to see.

“It helps us with retaining doctors because they’re part of the regional healthcare system and they understand the differences in regional healthcare compared to metropolitan.  Even if they do go away cities to work they’re more likely to come back as senior doctors and specialists down the track.”

For medical interns Dr Alison Huynh and Dr Lucas Phelps, their internship with Bendigo Health is an exciting step forward.

 “I’m looking forward to being able to get into the workforce and putting what I learned into practice,” Alison said. “As well as getting to know the other doctors on a different level than I would have as a student and building longer lasting relationships.”

Lucas moved to Bendigo as a teenager and so undertaking an internship in his hometown seems a natural fit.

“The ability to come back as a medical student for a couple of years, and to come back as an intern to a hospital that has a great reputation for junior doctors was just a no-brainer for myself,” he said. “I’m really excited to be back in Bendigo.”