Nicole, Resident Medical Officer
Coming to work at CCLHD for me was the best choice I never made. I was actually pretty devastated when I was matched to come here. I grew up as a Sydney girl and had my heart set on working in a Sydney based hospital. Then I arrived and realised I had stepped into a community of peers and senior doctors unlike anything I expected or have ever experienced before. ⠀
I walked into the theatres and the boss knew my name and even apologetically mentioned that he didn’t think any ortho procedures were happening that day. I was shocked that he knew who I was but even more so that he had made the effort to know what I was interested in. That was unheard of to me at the time but the longer I’ve been here and the more opportunities I’ve had, I have come to realise that I could not have picked a better place to come.
The senior staff here are so intentional about ensuring that we have the opportunities to learn and grow in a safe space. Often that creates more work for them as they need to really engage with our work and our level of skill so that they can give us opportunities that we are ready for.
Dan and Mary, Resident Medical Officers
When we finished medical school in Sydney we were married for only a few weeks before we moved to the Coast. We wanted to start our careers and lives together in a place that had nice people, nice beaches and great opportunities. We both grew up in Australia but have dual nationalities so we felt that we had a lot of opportunities to work around the world. When you know that you have options you think more seriously about what you really want. For us we wanted to live and work in a coastal community. A place that is a little bit more friendly and relaxed than normal. We have found that here. That sense of community flows through into your professional life as well, as our bosses and medical workforce really make the effort to get to know you and seem to go out of their way to help you. ⠀
I was so surprised to learn that all of our bosses agree to cover all of our shifts for one night of the year to ensure that every single one of us gets to attend the end of year party and not be on shift. You can walk into the Emergency Department on that night and see senior consultants changing fluid bags and other tasks that they would generally give to us! There is a level of humility and we believe a genuine interest in making our experience here fantastic. That honestly makes us want to work harder and has instilled a strong sense of loyalty to stay and put down long-term roots here.
Sianne, Resident Medical Officer
Gosford was my first choice as a placement after I finished university. I grew up in Sydney and studied medicine at Newcastle University so I knew a number of the senior team at CCLHD through the partnership with the Uni. I think for me one of the biggest benefits for me in coming to the coast was the huge amount of support from the Resident Medical Officer Association. I arrived into a community of my peers who had stood exactly where I was currently standing and became like a family to me.
I don’t think I fully understood the effort that was put into organising ways to make me feel included and welcomed until I was in my second year and responsible for doing the very same thing for the next group coming in. I remember preparing for orientation week and just about to open the doors for the next group of interns that I really understood how much it meant to me. I think when I arrived I enjoyed the experience and was instantly a part of something pretty special but for me the responsibility and opportunity for me to pay that forward and be able to facilitate that same experience for others was one of the stand-out moments from my experience working here