Member for Ku-ring-gai Alister Henskens SC MP welcomed the appointment of 17 new interns to Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital.

This year 1,073 new medical interns are joining the NSW Health system - a record number of new starters and the most of any state or territory in Australia.

Mr Henskens said the new interns would boost the local health workforce at a pivotal time in the ongoing COVID-19 response.

“Our community owes a huge debt of gratitude to our local health teams who have worked around the clock to keep us safe, especially over the past two years,” Mr Henskens said.

“I am incredibly pleased that these new interns have the opportunity to learn from the world-class doctors at Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital and play a significant role in navigating the challenges of this unprecedented, world-wide pandemic.”

Interns are medical graduates who have completed their medical degree and are required to complete a supervised year of practice in order to become independent practitioners.

The new doctors who commenced orientation this week will be entering a training program with networked hospitals throughout the state, providing formal and on the job training.

They receive two-year contracts to rotate between metropolitan, regional and rural hospitals to ensure the diversity of their experience. They also join different units in each hospital, including surgery and emergency medicine. 

In the largest ever health workforce boost in the state, the NSW Government has invested a record $2.8 billion to recruit an additional 1,060 doctors, 5,000 nurses, 880 allied health staff and 1,360 hospital support staff over a four year period.

More information on the recruitment of Junior Medical Officers can be found here: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/jmo/Pages/default.aspx