By Violet Li
Dandenong Hospital and Casey Hospital have seen an influx of junior doctors embarking on a new journey since January this year.
More than 100 junior doctors joined Monash Health as interns in January. They started placements at Casey Hospital, Dandenong Hospital, Monash Medical Centre, Kingston Centre, and Moorabbin Hospital.
The interns will rotate through an array of units over five terms lasting 10 to 12 weeks each, including General Medicine, Mental Health, Emergency Medicine, Urology and Palliative Care. They will work as part of the inpatient multidisciplinary team supervised and supported by more senior medical staff.
Medical intern Dr Adam Baker has started a rotation in General Medicine at Dandenong Hospital. He has been responsible for looking after patients from their first day in the ward all the way through to either when they go home or get transferred.
“We manage patients’ medical issues, liaise with other teams and then try and take a very holistic approach to home care as well,” he said.
“It’s a lot of dealing with family, dealing with medical practice units in the community, dealing with places like nursing homes and aged care facilities and just making sure everybody’s on the same page about what the plan is.
“My main role is mostly to look after the patients and to act for these plans as well as support our teams in managing the patients.”
For Dr Baker, it was a career choice inspired by time spent volunteering at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre with his mother.
“I got to observe a lot of things and see what the day-to-day operations were like, but what really stuck with me was the limited interactions I could have with patients, and I knew I wanted to do something where I could be more involved,” he recalled.
“From there, going through high school and going into university, I wanted something that would allow me to help pursue that a little bit more.
“It’s kind of just where I ended up. There’s a whole range of reasons why I think medicine is the best job in the world, or at least the best job in the world for me. A big plus is being able to be very privileged to be able to be in those positions to help others.”
Dr Baker said he expected to keep learning and develop his own abilities, and skill sets through the internship.
“Mostly I can continue to help my patients the best that I can,” he said.
“So far, I’m learning a lot. It’s been really good being able to interact with other senior members of the team. And they’ve been a big support for me as well so far, teaching me lots and lots.
“I think that’s going to keep on going, and I’m really thankful to be a part of it.”
Medical intern Dr Michelle Xing shared many of the similar experiences as Dr Baker.
She started her first rotation at Casey Hospital Emergency Department (ED), and by a pure stroke of luck, has commenced on the same rotation as two of her best friends from medical school.
She never imagined she would start her first week of being a doctor on a run of night duty, but it ended up really good for her.
“I felt really supported. I was working with a lovely supervising doctor,” she recalled.
“My nights end up being great. I was glad that I started on nights, so there was a bit of independence.”
The Monash University graduate did all three of her years of placements at Monash Health, which made her decide to come back.
“I wanted to go back because I really liked it there. I think they could sort of gauge that vibe from me that I really wanted to work there,” she said.
“The people are just so nice. All the senior staff, all the junior staff too, are just so supportive. You never feel like you’re asking a silly question or that you should be afraid to ask for help for anything.
“It’s just a really nice work culture. Everyone’s really supportive and gets along really well, and people always check up on each other.”
Dr Xing said it was very nice to be able to help people and also learn a lot on the job.
“You’re always learning. You never know everything,” she said.
“It’s nice to see a big range of presentations and patients and learn from your mistakes.”
