More than 115 junior doctors will join the teams at Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital Bruce from Monday 7 February, becoming part of an incredible health workforce that supports and protects Canberrans every day of the year.
The new Junior Medical Officers will start their first year of practice as interns, which involves one year of supervised training before they are eligible to be granted general medical registration.
Minister for Health Rachel Stephen-Smith thanked the new Junior Medical Officers for choosing to begin their medical careers in Canberra.
“I know I speak for all Canberrans when I say how very welcome these new doctors are.
“Given the impact of COVID-19 on the health system in recent months, particularly as rosters have been affected by high numbers of health care workers in quarantine and isolation, our hospital teams will be supporting the new starters to hit the ground running.
“The Junior Medical Officers starting next week will be an integral part of our health service, providing care where and when Canberrans need it,” Minister Stephen-Smith said.
Joining the team at Canberra Hospital will be 95 Junior Medical Officers, while 22 will start at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce.
The Minister said she was especially pleased to see equal numbers of female and male Junior Medical Officers in Calvary Public Hospital Bruce’s program, and almost equal numbers in Canberra Hospital’s 2022 program (46 females and 49 males).
More than half of the Junior Medical Officers starting at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce and two-thirds of those starting at Canberra Hospital studied at the Australia National University (ANU) Medical School. There were 335 applicants to the highly-competitive internship program at Canberra Hospital.
Canberra Health Services Acting Executive Director, Medical Services, Ashwin Swaminathan said he and his clinical colleagues are looking forward to welcoming the new team members on the wards.
“Our role is to support and nurture these new graduates and to build on the excellent medical training that they have already received,” Dr Swaminathan said.
“It is challenging at any time for a new doctor to begin work in a busy hospital and particularly so in the context of a pandemic.”
Canberra Hospital incoming Junior Medical Officer Dr Gabrielle Gross, who studied at ANU, said she is looking forward to putting her medical training into practice and giving back to the community.
“It’s been hard during my education to see the impact COVID-19 has had on our city and I’m keen to get involved and help out in my new role,” Dr Gross said.
