Seven new junior doctors have joined the ranks of the Mount Gambier Hospital. Flinders University has run the Rural Junior Doctor Training program in Mount Gambier for the past 15 years.

The program is a collaboration between Flinders University and the Limestone Coast Local Health Network and aims to secure ongoing doctors in the region for the long-term.

The seven interns who started last week are from Flinders University, University of Adelaide and Monash University Malaysia. Clinical Training Director and Hawkins Medical Clinic GP Michelle McIntosh said the program allowed junior doctors to work closely with consultant specialists.

“They develop more clinical, hands-on skills than they would in a larger centre,” Dr McIntosh said. “Because of the practical experience you get and the increased autonomy, it’s a really useful training for many different specialties.

“Even the people who do not end up here, it gives them a better understanding of rural medicine and it forms a really good foundation for whatever direction you want to head in.”

The interns agreed the Rural Junior Doctor Training program offered a personal, hands-on experience. “We get a lot more individual and personalised time with our seniors and teaching staff,” intern Shade McClymont said.

“The biggest benefit is probably the range of opportunities we get in the country compared to being in the city.” “You get to actually meet and know people that you work with and patients,” intern Nikki Pennifold said.

“It encouraged me to go rural in whatever I do in the future,” intern Keren Wu said. Regional Training Hub Lead Sarah Boyd said the interns were supported with travel and accommodation reimbursement and the medical education component of their training is co-ordinated, which includes weekly tutorials, monthly grand rounds, well-being and welfare support, monthly well-being lunches, one-on-one appraisals and careers advice.

“The support they get here is a lot different to what you would get in metropolitan areas,” Ms Boyd said. “It’s a small group so we get to know them really well, they get to know us, they have that one-on-one time with the consultants. They really become a part of the team here.”