Seventy-six new graduate doctors are joining the team at Sunshine Coast Health, ready to transform their training into person-centred care at hospitals across the district, including Gympie Hospital.
Last Wednesday, 7 January, the interns launched into their careers with the start of an orientation week at Sunshine Coast University Hospital, where they’re learning the ins and outs of working on our local wards.
Dr Andrew Wong is one of the new interns, excited to be starting work after many years of study.
Inspired by his mum’s medical career in Malaysia, he is excited to be starting his own at Sunshine Coast Health.
“Watching her as I grew up and how much she loves her patients, loves her job… really inspired me.”
“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 all his studies on the Sunshine Coast and is thrilled to be able to continue his medical journey here.
“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.”
At this stage, he’s thinking 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, as well as the many learning opportunities on offer.
“I’ve heard really good feedback from previous interns and doctors who have worked here.
“It sounds like you’re very well supported.
“The education system’s also really great here.
“It sounds like a great place to set up a career in medicine.”
She will start out in the general medicine rotation at Nambour General Hospital.
Director of Clinical Training Dr Sara Lucas said the intern program is designed to foster growth and provide mentorship, while supporting the doctors through the first year of their challenging career.
“We’ve got people who have come from all over Australia to come and work and do their internship on the Sunshine Coast,” Dr Lucas 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 Gympie Hospital, Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Nambour General 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,” Dr Lucas said.
“There’s a real mixture of anticipation, nerves, as well as excitement about actually starting to work finally.”
