Over 1,000 medical graduates have commenced their internships within the New South Wales (NSW) Health system, joining public hospitals across the state. 

The intake represents a significant boost to Australia’s largest health workforce.

The interns will undertake formal and on-the-job training through a network of metropolitan, regional, rural, and remote hospitals. 

Their two-year contracts ensure diverse clinical exposure, with rotations in key specialties such as surgery, medicine, and emergency care. This supervised practice is a mandatory step for medical graduates to qualify as independent practitioners.

Among the new interns is Paris Zhang, 28, who initially pursued a different path through a swimming scholarship at the University of Tulane in New Orleans. 

Returning to Sydney, she decided to follow her long-standing interest in medicine, inspired by her family doctor. Zhang begins her neurology placement at Royal North Shore Hospital. “It [medicine] was always on my mind. I grew up with a very great family GP. She was very caring and I wanted to be like her,” she said.

Another intern, Rahul Soo, also 28, took an unconventional route. 

Accepted into medicine after high school, he initially studied business and biology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. 

A personal medical experience shifted his focus back to healthcare. Starting in the emergency department at Ryde Hospital, Soo said; “I was once a patient and it inspired me. I had a very unique experience and it gave me some direction”.

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