News
- Text Decrease
- Text Increase
- Print Page
Hundreds of new doctors for Victoria’s hospitals
13 January 2012
AMA Victoria will tonight welcome nearly 700 new doctors who have begun work as interns in public hospitals across the state.
AMA Victoria Vice President Dr Stephen Parnis congratulated the new interns on the transition and said the interns would provide a much-needed boost to the state’s medical workforce.
“These doctors will make an extremely valuable contribution to our hospitals and will provide much-needed support to experienced doctors who are working in the over-stretched public hospital system,” he said.
AMA Victoria will officially welcome new doctors to the profession at the annual Intern Reception this evening.
“Victoria’s new doctors are highly trained, committed and hard working. They have a long road ahead of them and deserve our encouragement and support,” said Dr Parnis. "This year we have a record number of new doctors beginning work in the system and given Victoria’s growing and ageing population, there has never been a better time for this boost.”
On completion of a medical degree doctors must complete an intern year at a public hospital which includes rounds in a range of clinical areas and time in both metropolitan and rural hospitals. They are then able to undertake specialist training which takes an additional five to seven years.
Dr Parnis said AMA Victoria was pleased the Victorian Government had committed to providing increased intern places to cater for the growing number of medical graduates but said there was still a large shortfall of specialist training places.
"Increasing the number of specialist training places is essential to ensure there are enough surgeons, physicians, psychiatrists, GPs and other specialists working in our health system in the future," he said.
"We need to ensure that our new doctors are given the opportunity to finish their training. If we don’t find solutions to the shortage of specialist teachers and mentors, and increase the number of specialist training places, future waiting times for elective surgery and emergency care will become even longer.”
Background
The distribution of places for new doctors in Victoria is as follows:
|
Albury / Wodonga Health
|
2
|
|
Alfred Health
|
54
|
|
Austin
|
55
|
|
Ballarat Health Services
|
27
|
|
Barwon Health (Geelong Hospital)
|
36
|
|
Bendigo Health Care Group (Bendigo Base Hospital)
|
29
|
|
Eastern Health (Box Hill Hospital)
|
70
|
|
Gippsland Rural Intern Training Program
|
10
|
|
Goulburn Valley Health
|
30
|
|
Melbourne Health (Royal Melbourne Hospital)
|
75
|
|
Mildura Base Hospital
|
3
|
|
Murray to the Mountains
|
5
|
|
Northern Health
|
47
|
|
Peninsula Health (Frankston Hospital)
|
44
|
|
South West Health Care (Warrnambool)
|
5
|
|
Southern Health
|
85
|
|
St Vincent’s Health
|
57
|
|
Western Health (Western Hospital)
|
65
|
|
TOTAL
|
699
|
Preferred Providers
Next
Prev