Funded by the Department of Health, The Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) in partnership with Cairns Hospital have facilitated medical intern placements for Post Graduate Year 1 junior doctors.
For the selected five junior doctors, who will each have a 10-week term with the Flying Doctor, this internship will provide a variety of exposure to many complex cases covering all facets of rural and remote general practice. The interns will be flying into clinics three days during the week and will spend one day on-site for education and training.
For Dr Daryl Goh, who started his rotation in January of this year, the experience so far with the Flying Doctor has been invaluable.
During this time, Daryl has been on a regular rotation in the primary healthcare clinic in Chillagoe as well as being a part of clinical services in Forsayth, Georgetown, Ravenswood, Pentland and Greenvale.
During his term with the Cairns Base, Daryl conducted various challenging tasks which were very well received by all clinical staff. RFDS Cairns Doctor, Yvonne Dovern said “it was wonderful to have Daryl joining us and contributing to the care of patients in our clinics. We received positive feedback from patients who valued seeing a junior doctor working alongside our senior clinicians.”
Gail Walker from the Cairns Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) expressed just how appreciative they are to have obtained this intern training program, “we feel very fortunate to have the support from the Royal Flying Doctor Service Cairns Base.
“From a CHHHS perspective, the staff at RFDS have been consistently professional in working with the Prevocational Medical Education Unit to guide junior doctors in becoming accredited with the Prevocational Medical Accreditation Authority in Queensland. The Prevocational Medical Education Unit at Cairns Hospital will continue to maintain a close working partnership with the staff at RFDS to works towards the hopes of facilitating junior doctors’ careers paths towards rural and remote medicine.”
If you know of anyone who may be interested in undertaking a placement with the RFDS, please contact Renae Murphy at rmurphy@rfdsqld.com.au
