The largest cohort of medical interns will start work across Darling Downs Health’s hospitals this month.
The 12-month graduate program will see 58 trainees experience the demands of urban, rural and remote medicine.
Health Service chief executive Annette Scott said Darling Downs Health was an invigorating place to learn and advance medical careers, with excellent rates of second and third-year doctors reported.
“I’m so pleased to welcome this latest cohort of interns to the health service and we look forward to working with them to achieve great outcomes for the community and health service,“ she said.
“A significant part of our health service covers rural areas so it’s very encouraging to see young doctors preparing for careers in general practice in regional communities.
“These foundation years for medical graduates are exceptionally important and I’m confident they’ll have a positive experience at Darling Downs Health.“
Dr Shannon Woodhead has moved from New South Wales to begin employment with Darling Downs Health.
“I come from a small rural town on the border of New South Wales and Victoria,“ she said.
“I studied down in Wollongong and decided to come up to Darling Downs Health as I’ve visited Toowoomba a couple of times and I love it! I love the people, I love the surrounds. So, I decided to move here to start my career.
“We have an excellent cohort of interns, every person that I’ve met has been extremely friendly and everyone sounds like they did specifically choose Toowoomba.“
Dr Anthony Patsalou has returned to Toowoomba after completing his medical degree and is excited to begin his first placement at the Warwick Hospital Emergency Department.
“I’m keen to get out there, I’m quite used to the rural communities having done placements in Kingaroy and Roma,“ he said. “Hopefully, when I come back to Toowoomba in 12 weeks, the experience will have set me up for other rotations as well.
“I think coming back to Toowoomba as an intern is a good option. It’s not too big of a hospital, but it’s also not too small either.
“Darling Downs Health is the perfect mix of being well supported and having lots of opportunities to do things.“
Dr Curtis Rayment said Darling Downs Health came with positive reviews from other medical students who had begun their careers with the Health Service.
“I’m interested in doing rural medicine,“ he said. “Darling Downs Health has a good rural focus and it’s a big hospital where I get to see and do everything I want to do, but then there’s also the rural focus.
“During my intern year I want to build upon everything I learnt during my medical degree and get a better idea of what I want for my future as a doctor. “Darling Downs Health is a good place to be doing that.“
Hailing from Canada, Dr Nimara Dias has chosen to stay in Australia to begin her medical career.
“Due to COVID, I couldn’t go back to Canada for the first two years of study, so the biggest thing I needed to create was a support network for myself,“ she said.
“I now have such deep roots placed in Australia, it’s hard to build this for yourself and work hard every day to turn away from it and go back to a country where I haven’t lived for four years.
“I’ve put some roots down in Australia and want to see where this all goes.
“There’s opportunity at Darling Downs Health for more clinical skills, I was able to get a paediatric rotation, which I really love because I want to go into paediatrics and that was offered, so there’s opportunity here to be a more well-rounded doctor.“
