I welcome the new intern doctors who are launching a new phase in their careers at Sutherland Hospital.
Sutherland Hospitalβs new starters are among more than 1,000 intern doctors starting across NSW this year, the largest intake of any state or territory in Australia. South Eastern Sydney Local Health District is receiving 105 new intern doctors.
The new doctors who have started their internships will be entering a training program with networked hospitals throughout the state.
This year, NSW offered a record number of 1,041 intern doctor positions, which is an increase of 35 per cent since 2011.
Of these, 150 interns belong to the Rural Preferential Recruitment scheme, where interns undertake the majority of their training in rural hospitals.
The intake into this rural scheme has doubled since 2012, and aims to encourage interns to work in rural hospitals once they finish their training.
Interns are medical graduates who have completed their medical degree and are required to complete a supervised year of practice to become independent practitioners.
The NSW Government is investing $2.8 billion over four years in a record workforce boost of 8,300 frontline hospital staff, including 5,000 nurses and midwives, with 45 per cent of those for regional and rural areas.
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