Seventy-six graduate doctors have launched their careers on the Sunshine Coast.
The interns have joined Sunshine Coast Health, ready to transform their training into person-centred care at hospitals across the region.
They will learn the ropes at local wards around the region, after an orientation week.
Dr Andrew Wong is one the new interns, excited to start work after many years of study, and inspired by his mother’s medical career in Malaysia.
“Watching her as I grew up and how much she loves her patients, loves her job… really inspired me,” he said.
“I’m currently hoping to be a psychiatrist, just like my mum. I think it runs in the family, a bit of that gene to just love taking care of people’s mental health.”
Dr Shor Mizuno has completed his studies on the Sunshine Coast and is thrilled to continue his medical journey in the region.
“The thing that attracts me most to medicine is the relationships with people and patients and speaking with people, and helping them through difficult times in their lives,” he said.
“Apparently when I was in kindergarten there’s a photo of me with ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ and it says ‘doctor’. I don’t remember doing that but apparently it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I think going through undergrad and actually being in the hospital has just cemented that even more.”
He thinks that paediatrics will be his specialty of choice, as his career progresses.
Having grown up on Hamilton Island and studied in North Queensland, Dr Ayoka Wong was drawn to the Sunshine Coast lifestyle and learning opportunities.
“I’ve heard really good feedback from previous interns and doctors who have worked here. It sounds like you’re very well supported,” she said.
“The education system’s also really great here. It sounds like a great place to set up a career in medicine.”
She will start in the general medicine rotation at Nambour General Hospital.
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Director of clinical training Dr Sara Lucas said the intern program was designed to foster growth and provide mentorship, while supporting doctors through the first year of their careers.
“We’ve got people who have come from all over Australia to come and work and do their internship in the Sunshine Coast,” she said.
“If we consolidate the initial years of doctor training, we find that they actually then want to come back and train later on, or come back once they’re a specialist. That’s so important as we grow the future of Sunshine Coast Health.”
The interns will rotate through different specialty areas including medical, surgery and emergency. They’ll be based at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Nambour General Hospital, Gympie Hospital and Maleny Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital.
The orientation week helps them learn the ropes of working in the local hospitals.
“They’ll do local facility tours, they’ll learn how to use the computer systems and technology associated with the job, they’ll also do some simulated scenarios and practice recognising and responding to medical emergencies.”
“There’s a real mixture of anticipation, nerves, as well as excitement about actually starting working finally.”
