Welcome new 2021 interns!

January 6, 2021

This week, 45 new junior doctors commenced as medical interns at Northern Health.

Dr Wanda Stelmach, Chief Medical Officer, warmly welcomed the interns, saying,”We are delighted to welcome 2021 interns, who commenced orientation this week, and officially start work next week. Some of this group assisted Northern Health during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in areas such as pathology, and helped to conduct audits and work in our call centres, a contribution we value greatly.”

Susie Sangas, Medical Education Manager said the interns are very enthusiastic and the team is excited to welcome them, especially face to face.

“We worked hard to make this happen, and have organised the first day in two lecture theatres, to allow for physical distancing,” she added.

During the five day intern orientation, the interns will get to know the hospital system, practice their skills in the simulation lab where they will focus on basic life support, learning how to put Indwelling Catheters (IDCs), cannulations, writing on drug charts and they will spend the last two days of shadowing, where they have an opportunity to accompany an outgoing intern and learn more about the Northern Health’s wards.

“The program is design to orientate the interns in quite a practical way, so they get all the skills to function on the ward as efficiently as possible. The interns will be at Northern Health for the full year, rotating through different specialties like General Medicine, General Surgery and Emergency, with a couple of optional specialties”, said Dr Carol Chong, Intern Training Supervisor.

“The 2020 interns are also in their last week of internship, and we congratulate them on completing their year of training and attaining full MBBS status in spite of COVID! Thank you for working with Northern Health to manage the challenges COVID-19 presented during 2020,” Dr Stelmach said.

We welcome all of our new interns and wish you the very best in your career at Northern Health!

Dr Stelmach (left) and Dr Chong (right) with a group of 2021 interns