Nearly 1000 new doctors are entering Victoria’s public health system this month, with a significant number allocated to hospitals serving Melbourne’s western and northern growth corridors.
Among the 965 medical interns beginning their careers statewide, 695 are based in metropolitan health services.
Western Health and Northern Health are among the primary beneficiaries of this year’s intake.
Western Health recently welcomed 100 interns who will rotate through Footscray, Sunshine, and Williamstown hospitals. Meanwhile, 60 new doctors have commenced their training at Northern Health, supporting the busy emergency and surgical departments in Epping.
The group will spend the next 47 weeks rotating through various specialties, including emergency medicine, surgery, and general medicine. This year’s program also features an emphasis on mental health, with $47 million of the state’s health workforce investment dedicated to psychiatry rotations and registrar programs.
The arrival of these junior doctors is expected to provide essential support to a public system that now employs over 123,000 healthcare workers. Local health officials noted that the interns play a vital role in day-to-day patient care while gaining the supervised experience necessary to become fully independent practitioners.
While the majority of the new workforce is concentrated in Melbourne, 271 interns have been deployed to regional areas, including Barwon and Bendigo. For residents in the west and north, the influx of new staff at major local hubs like Sunshine and Epping is a key step in managing high patient volumes and ensuring essential services remain staffed as the region’s population continues to expand.
