Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, left, welcomes three new Junior Medical Officers to Armidale Rural Referral Hospital today, Dr Lucinda Parsonage, Dr Arisham Ramphul and Dr Steven Demmocks.
MEMBER for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall today welcomed three new medical graduates who are commencing their internships at Armidale Rural Referral Hospital this year.
Mr Marshall caught up with the three junior doctors this morning on their first day on the job at the hospital.
“On behalf of the community I welcome our new interns (Dr Lucinda Parsonage, Dr Steven Demmocks and Dr Arisham Ramphul) to Armidale,” he said.
“They’ve chosen a great place to further their medical training and are in excellent hands as the staff here at the Armidale Rural Referral Hospital are highly professional and committed to delivering the very best of medical care to the community.
“Rural health offers a totally different experience for graduates – they have the opportunity, not afforded in the city, to experience a wide variety of cases.
“It also introduces them to the joys of living in a rural area in the hope they will chose to return when their training is complete.
“I’m sure they will enjoy their 11 weeks here and I wish them all the very best in their training and future careers – I would like to think we will see them back here one day,” he said.
Mr Marshall said NSW employs more interns than any other state or territory in Australia with 980 intern training places available – an increase of 21 positions on last year. The NSW Government has committed more than $107 million this year to support intern training.
“NSW guarantees intern positions to all domestic medical graduates of NSW universities. As well, NSW provides internships to many graduates from interstate universities and, where possible, international full-fee paying medical graduates,” he said.
“During their one-year internship, the graduates will complete compulsory terms in the specialties of medicine, surgery and emergency. “The interns will rotate through metropolitan, regional or rural hospitals, as well as GP practices.
“The intern training can be professionally and personally challenging but it is critical in ensuring patients across the state continue to be provided with quality and specialised health care for years to come.”