The largest ever South Australian intake of medical interns has started work in public hospitals across the state, with 313 of these new doctors allocated jobs across local health networks.
Seven intern doctors have been recruited for the Limestone Coast Local Health Network.
The number of recruits is 28 more than last year (285) and 40 more than the last year of the previous Government (273 in 2021). This year’s intake includes 33 interstate and 20 overseas medical graduates.
The intern year is the first year of practice for new doctors after graduating from medical school and provides extensive supervised clinical experience.
The intern year includes care of patients with chronic, acute and critical illnesses and pre-operative and procedural care.
New doctors will undertake rotations across different areas of public hospitals, gaining experience and exposure to different specialities such as emergency, medicine, psychiatry and surgery.
State Health Minister Chris Picton said the government was building a bigger health system – opening 600 extra hospital beds to create more capacity and hiring hundreds more doctors, nurses, ambos and allied health workers.
“In the first two years of the Malinauskas Government 329 extra full time equivalent doctors were recruited above attrition to the public health system,” he said.
“It’s fantastic to have the biggest ever intake of 313 new medical interns joining our workforce to help care for South Australians across our hospitals.
“This record recruitment is yet another sign that we have been able to demonstrate we are hiring more doctors and building a bigger health system for South Australians.
“These new doctors will be well supported as they begin their practice and will have exposure to different areas of patient care through their internship program.”