Media Release

Royal Melbourne Hospital welcomes 50 interns in 2006

10 January 2006  
  

The new RMH interns had an unexpected meeting on their first day on the job.
They spoke to Acting Premier of Victoria, Mr John Thwaites, and Health Minister
Bronwyn Pike (above), who were at RMH for a media conference to announce
the State's public hospitals 2006 intake of 406 interns.

The Royal Melbourne Hospital welcomed 50 new doctors starting their internship in January 2006. With more than five years of university study behind them, the interns are now hard at work discovering the rigours - and satisfaction - of life as a doctor.

They face a tough year ahead, Dr Heather Smith, Manager, Medical Education Programs at RMH, explained: 'An internship is a clinical apprenticeship, with a range of supervised hospital rotations. This provides a variety of opportunities, to ensure a broad range of experiences, as well as training and support.'

Dr Smith said the interns would have five hospital rotations in the year, including one or more in a regional setting.

'All our interns have at least one rotation in a regional hospital,' Dr Smith said. The interns will be heading for Wangaratta, Wimmera (in Horsham) and Ballarat Base hospitals, with a further rotation available at Western Hospital in Footscray.

Throughout the year, the interns also have weekly training sessions covering medical, surgical and emergency situations, delivered by senior clinical staff.

At the end of this year, the new doctors can apply for Hospital Medical Officer (HMO) positions at Australian or overseas hospitals.

Interns Tim Roberts (left) and David Sydenham
practise applying plaster casts at the RMH Fracture
Clinic, with guidance from Ken Lewin.

Intern David Tran (left) carefully cuts off a plaster
cast from the arm of colleague Bernadette Young