Tamworth hospital gains nearly two dozen medical interns on 24 month traineeship

The 21 interns are currently in their two weeks of induction, but will soon be hands-on as they learn the ropes across two years in the role.

The Leader spoke to a couple of the eager young doctors, who said it was an easy decision to undertake their traineeship in Tamworth.

Gerald MacPherson, 29, grew up in Scone but attended high school in Tamworth, before doing university in Sydney. He completed his final year in Orange though, and decided a rural centre was where he wanted to be.

"It's just the access that we have and the fact that we are going to be among the first people to be able to respond to situations," he said.

"We get a lot more exposure to certain procedures than some of the other medical professionals would be at metropolitan hospitals."

Fellow intern and Canberra native, Alicia Evans, has arrived in Tamworth after completing a degree at the University of Newcastle. She was based there for three years before spending a year in Maitland, and completing her final 12 months in Tamworth.

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She said staying in the country music capital was a no-brainer, and she had heard great things about Tamworth hospital.

"Very early on in my degree you have senior medical students coming along and doing tutorials and things with you, so you get to hear on the ground what things are like for juniors," she said.

"And I'd never heard a bad thing about being in Tamworth with the support and the training opportunities.

"The really hands-on upskilling opportunities that you get being somewhere like Tamworth over a big major hospital really excited me."

Medical education support officer, Tracey Walker, is overseeing the interns' time at the hospital, and she said it was great to see so many new feet on the ground.

She had also been impressed with their eagerness, which is something trainees are renowned for.

"Their excitement is definitely heightened, it always is when they first start, it is a big two weeks for them because they learn a lot over a concentrated period of time. But certainly they've shown good results so far," she said.

"We're very fortunate because we've actually got an extra position this year, which is rural GP training out of a local practice in Scone, which is very fortunate for us.

"It gives us a total of 21 interns which is marvellous as far as staffing goes, they're a very collegial group, they support each other, they help each other and become their own little family while they're here."

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