Riverina medical interns are facing greater challenges than usual this year, as they begin their career during the COVID-19 pandemic.
There has been a record number of interns across the state, with 1,000 joining New South Wales Health in 2022.
Of those, 31 have already started at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and two will begin at Griffith Base Hospital this week.
Junior medical officer (JMO) Aziz Lawandos, from Sydney, is looking forward to tackling the challenges ahead.
"I'm really excited to get into the workforce; hopefully provide some much-needed help and assistance to all the medical officers who have been doing it tough for the past two years," Dr Lawandos said.
The interns' first year comes as the Murrumbidgee Local Health District continues to battle COVID-19, particularly the Omicron variant.
Since July 1 last year there have been more than 17,000 cases in the region.
But Indiana Chant, a JMO from Leeton, said the group had undergone training during the pandemic.
"It's definitely a little bit intimidating knowing that we'll be working in the COVID ward and in the pandemic," Dr Chant said.
"However, it's something we've been training for, and we've already completed two years of our degree in this current pandemic, so I think that itself has been training."
It is hoped the JMOs will not only gain a better understanding of the health and hospital system during their internship year, but also a feel for the region.
Retaining regional workforce
Chris Mumme, an anaesthetist who completed his internship in Wagga alongside his wife, said laying the foundation for interns was crucial in bringing more doctors to regional areas.
"If we can give them a positive experience, both in work and out of work, we're more likely to get people to come back like myself and my wife did; like my surgical colleagues that I work with regularly, like the physicians who are coming through," Dr Mumme said.
"It's not just the specialists as well; I would love to see if greater than 50 per cent of these end up as general practitioners, not just in Wagga, but Cootamundra, Gundagai, Tumut, Temora.
"All the small towns around here are desperate for them and from speaking to this cohort, I think there's 40 or 50 per cent who are seriously considering that, this early in their careers."
