23 January 2013

96 interns hit the hospital

| johnboy
Join the conversation
3

Chief Minister Gallagher is welcoming a big group of 96 medical interns:

ACT Chief Minister and Minister for Health, Katy Gallagher, has welcomed 96 new medical interns who have commenced their clinical work at Canberra Hospital after a week of orientation.

“This is the biggest intake of intern doctors to ever join the ACT healthcare system, and many of them have trained at our own ANU Medical School,” the Chief Minister said.

“I am very pleased to welcome our new doctors as I know the people of Canberra and the surrounding region will benefit from their contribution to the future of our health system.

“They are participating in a new and highly innovative internship model being piloted for the first time in Australia at Canberra Hospital.”

The new ‘pod system’ system comprises a number of intern teams (‘pods’) made up of 10 junior doctors who will cover a group of medical or surgical specialties to provide inpatient care across a 24 hour period, seven days a week in four 13-week rotations under the mentorship of four senior medical officers.

“The new ‘pod system’ model is designed to afford better continuity of care, greater opportunity for more effective clinical handover, improved training and better supervision of junior doctors, particularly on night shifts and at weekends.”

Join the conversation

3
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

There’s a huge glut of new medical grads looming over the health system… training hospitals are being asked to come up with how they can be accommodated, and the specialist training colleges are also eyeing the problem of how they’ll accommodate them once they’re through their required post graduate hospital service.

It’s high time they introduced a career stream for hospital doctors, the ones that don’t go on to train with a specialist college, as it’s pretty obvious that in the future, we just won’t have capacity to train all of them into specialities (GPs are specialists also).

A new batch of midwives are about to start too apparently!

Well done Katy, I hope they stay

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.