Dr Daryl D’Souza and Dr Kate Stotskaia, who graduated from the Warrnambool Medical School, have stayed in Warrnambool as interns.
DEAKIN University’s Medical School is continuing to deliver on its goal to get more doctors working in country areas.
Two recent graduates of the school, Dr Kate Stotskaia and Dr Daryl D’Souza, have taken up positions as interns at South West Healthcare in Warrnambool, adding to the three earlier graduates who also took up positions at the hospital.
Dr Stotskaia and Dr D’Souza praised Deakin’s clinical school at South West Healthcare where they did some training.
They said it provided higher quality and more practical skills than what metropolitan medical schools could provide.
Dr D’Souza said the low student-teacher ratio allowed students to gain good practical skills.
“It did not compare with 100 other medical students fighting over one patient,” Dr D’Souza said.
They had a message for other medical students considering studying in the country.
“Come to Warrnambool,” they said.
Dr Stotskaia said her year of study in Warrnambool was the best of the four years of her degree.
“Everyone treats us like part of a family and the teachers were amazing and very knowledgeable,” she said.
“They do everything possible to help you be a good student and a good doctor.”
The duo were part of a medical degree that started at Deakin in 2008 to train students in rural areas in the hope they would work in the country after they graduated and help reduce the shortage of rural doctors.
The degree takes in students who have already graduated in another degree and trains them for four years — the first two at Geelong and the final two years at a choice of metropolitan and rural clinical schools.
Dr Stotskaia said she had chosen Warrnambool because it suited her lifestyle.
“I prefer to finish work and have five minutes to go to the beach instead of an hour.
“Warrnambool also had a good community vibe,” she said.