This training program for medical graduates is a real success story with more interns and medical officers being offered places this year compared with last year.

More importantly, 15 of the new interns will be based at Albury Wodonga Health for two years, rather than the 10-week rotations that have been in place in the past.

That gives those doctors the opportunity to set down roots in Albury-Wodonga and increases the likelihood they will remain in our region for the long term, or at the very least, remain in a regional area, boosting the medical workforce in rural Australia.

The training program at Albury Wodonga Health is expanding as the health service aims to give the new doctors the chance to becoming involved with their new community and get to know people.

Many of the newcomers are already sold on their new home, citing the Border region’s facilities and the clinical opportunities compared with bigger city hospitals as real drawcards for doctors with existing families and those seeking to build their expertise.