Queensland hospitals welcome next generation of doctors

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has welcomed the next generation of Queensland doctors who will start work in 18 of the State’s public hospitals this week.  

Meeting some of Logan Hospital’s 40 new medical interns today, the Premier said the new junior doctors were among 738 medical graduates participating in their orientation program in preparation to start ward rounds next week.

“All of the graduates face a rewarding and challenging year ahead as they learn to navigate their important new roles and put into practice everything they’ve learned,” the Premier said.

“For these graduates this is the start of their journey as junior medical officers under supervised practice on their way to achieving full registration in medicine.

“Queensland has a strong history of supporting home grown talent and this year’s intake is no different, with 80 per cent of the 2017 medical interns being graduates from Queensland universities. Queensland is also one of a few states which guarantees all of its medical graduates a place in our Intern Program.

“A strong, educated workforce of medical professionals is vital to achieving our goal of ensuring Queenslanders are among the healthiest people in the world by 2026.

“Since coming to office my Government has delivered 800 additional doctors and 3000 nurses to the front line and it’s exciting to see a further 738 graduates starting their careers across Queensland this week.”

“I welcome these graduates to the Queensland public health system and thank them for the roles they will play in improving the lives of their fellow Queenslanders.”

Logan Hospital Acting Director of Medical Services, Dr Brian Bell said Logan Hospital continued to experience significant demand from medical graduates wanting to complete their internship at the Hospital. He said this year’s intake included a group of 10 James Cook University graduates who collectively chose to make Logan their first preference.

“Many of our past interns have talked about the quality of the training and support provided to our interns and the wide range of clinical experience available here in Logan, so we’re very pleased to welcome the interns from Townsville.”

Dr Jadon Hart, one of the James Cook University graduates said Logan Hospital provided an opportunity to work in a busy outer metropolitan hospital where they would be exposed to a range of clinical presentations.

“We saw Logan as being able to provide us with lots of hands-on opportunities as well as the ability to get to know the senior doctors on a more personal level,” Dr Hart said.

“Logan is also such a culturally diverse city where we will be able to gain broad general experience with patients from a wide range of different backgrounds.”

Member for Logan, Linus Power welcomed the interns to the Hospital and said he hoped the experience they gained this year would encourage the medical graduates to consider Logan as a place to explore their future pathways.

“Logan City is one of the fastest growing areas in Queensland and the opportunities provided by the City’s largest employer, Logan Hospital, are immense,” he said.

“Logan is also a great place to live and I’d be very pleased to see some of this year’s interns see Logan as somewhere they can pursue their medical career.”

This year’s 738 graduates are commencing their intern program in a range of locations across the state including Cairns, Townsville, Mount Isa, Mackay, Rockhampton, Nambour, Ipswich and Toowoomba, as well as Brisbane’s metropolitan hospitals. Gold Coast’s intern cohort commenced last week.

The graduates are this week involved in intensive orientation programs which will see them undertake a range of clinical assessments and ensure they are familiar with their new surroundings, equipment and processes.

From next week, they will commence a year of speciality rotations in training areas like emergency, surgery and mental health, which will enable them to gain experience before deciding on which speciality path they may wish to take.

Media contact:         Premier’s Office 0488 996 667