What it means to be a medical intern at Redcliffe Hospital
Dr Jolie Kun is a few weeks shy of completing her medical internship at Redcliffe Hospital, and says she’ll be continuing her career in medicine there next year.
Like any job, everyone has to have a first day. For doctors, their first day is as a medical intern.
Dr Jolie Kun is a medical intern at Redcliffe Hospital, having arrived in January fresh from the University of Queensland Medical School.
For Dr Kun, her path to being a doctor at Redcliffe Hospital included both a Bachelor of Biomedical Science and Bachelor of Nursing, before she decided to study medicine.
Now, Dr Kun is just a few weeks shy of completing her internship, and now has experience treating patients across different services including medicine, surgery and in the Emergency Department.
As the acting Deputy Director of Medical Services, Dr Anthony Deacon is one of the hospital’s most senior doctors. He says that interns like Dr Kun arrive at the hospital having completed at least four years of medical school, sometimes more.
“Like Dr Kun, most have two or more degrees, and have studied at university for at least five years,” Dr Deacon said.
“For doctors who graduate from Australian universities, they all complete a one-year internship, rotating through emergency medicine, an internal medicine speciality such as geriatrics or gastroenterology, and a surgical speciality.”
Dr Deacon said interns are qualified doctors. They assess and treat patients, write prescriptions, order and review tests – all under the supervision of more senior doctors.
“They undergo a minimum of 47 weeks of structured training across different hospital departments. After which, they get a certificate in the form of general registration, which means they’re licensed to practice without supervision. Even then, almost all continue at the hospital under supervision for many years,” he said.
Dr Deacon completed his internship with Metro North Health around ten years ago, and said that for each generation of doctors, medicine becomes more complicated.
“That’s good for patients, because we know more and can treat diseases we couldn’t treat ten years ago. But it means there’s more knowledge to impart before they’re ready to work independently as doctors.”
Does everyone complete their internship? Dr Deacon says almost all do, but not always.
“Like any job, a few come to realise that it’s not for them,” he said.
“The completion rates at Redcliffe Hospital though, historically, would be 99% or more. The feedback we get from interns is that they really enjoy the generalist experience of Redcliffe Hospital.”
Looking back on her internship year at Redcliffe, Dr Kun says she made a good decision.
“I like the size of Redcliffe Hospital. You see a good variety of cases like you would at other large hospitals, but because Redcliffe is smaller, you get to know everybody. It’s nice to recognize so many faces in the hallway,” Dr Kun said.
Dr Deacon says that after an internship year, doctors like Dr Kun can expect to spend one or two years as a resident, (Resident Medical Officer) in the hospital before commencing speciality training.
“Doctors undergoing that specialty training are called registrars. Alternatively, they may become Principal House Officers, working in a medical speciality but not yet part of a training program.”
He says that for many doctors, speciality training can take up to six years, depending on the speciality they choose.
With the next cohort of interns due to start at Redcliffe next January, Dr Deacon say Redcliffe Hospital looks forward to training more good generalist doctors and preparing them well for whatever medical specialty or career they choose.