IMAGINE graduating from medicine in the middle of a global pandemic and heading out to become a frontline worker in your first year on the job.
This is the reality for more than 1,000 interns who have started working in the state's health system.
"These junior medical officers join NSW Health at a remarkable time in our history," NSW Health acting deputy secretary Richard Griffiths said.
"They come to us in the middle of a worldwide pandemic and have the unique opportunity to play a vital role in our extraordinary health system."
The new doctors will enter a training program including formal and on-the-job training.
They receive two-year contracts to rotate between metropolitan, regional and rural hospitals to ensure they get a diverse experience.
They also join different units in each hospital, including surgery and emergency medicine.
Dr Ally Cooper, Dr Nick Rainnie, Dr Ben Corbett and Dr Margaret Harris are four of the new recruits in the Hunter New England region.
Dr Corbett, originally from Orange, studied teaching at university before shifting to medicine. He hopes to work in critical care and has not been perturbed about working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We're in unprecedented times," he said.
"Nonetheless, I view it as an added opportunity, a challenge to overcome the additional hurdles while experiencing a health system that is responding and changing to these events."
He said the internship was a good lesson in "stepping up and having additional responsibility".
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