Northeast Health Wangaratta

Hospital website →

Campuses where pharmacy intern will work:

Primarily based at Northeast Health Wangaratta, Wangaratta’s public hospital, with short placements in community pharmacies in the region including Yarrawonga, Beechworth and Benalla. Some of these community pharmacies provide pharmacy services to their local hospitals, providing our interns opportunity to broaden their understanding of pharmacy services within healthcare facilities we regularly liaise with.

Northeast Health Wangaratta (NHW) is an outer regional health service providing hospital and health care to more than 90,000 people across North East Victoria.  NHW is the major referral centre for patients with complex health needs from Benalla, Yarrawonga, Beechworth, Bright, Myrtleford, Mansfield and the Victorian Alps.

Around 3 hours’ drive or train ride from central Melbourne, Wangaratta is the rural city in the centre of beautiful northeast Victoria.  Explore the wine and gourmet regions of Rutherglen, Milawa and the King Valley, the historical towns of Beechworth, Glenrowan and Benalla, and the beauty of Myrtleford, Bright and Mount Buffalo.  Albury/Wodonga, Yarrawonga, Lake Mulwala and the Murray River’s beaches are also within easy reach, as are the Victorian alpine resorts of Mount Buller, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek for mid-year day trips to the snow.  Nearby bushwalking trails in the Warby Ranges are on your doorstep.  Art galleries, festivals & a variety of local attractions are well worth a visit, and if you bring your bike – there are a variety of mountain bike trails throughout the region for novice and experienced riders, whereas the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail offers the casual rider a more relaxing cycling experience with plenty of places to stop for a bite to eat along the way.

Intern program information

3 intern positions are available in 2027

Our team comprises 23 pharmacists, 3 pharmacy interns, 8 pharmacy technicians and an administrative assistant.

Training & education is provided during working hours, Monday to Friday, and supported by early career pharmacist mentors and Monash University-credentialed Clinical Pharmacy Educators.  There are weekly rostered tutorials throughout the year, including clinical topics relevant to your everyday ward-based clinical pharmacy practice, plus plenty of OTC and primary care scenarios. 

Interns rotate every few weeks through different clinical areas including General Medical, Surgical, Critical Care (including coronary care, intensive care & high dependency), Inpatient Mental Health, Rehabilitation & Geriatric Evaluation, Paediatrics, Emergency, Hospital in the Home, Dispensary, Day Oncology, Operating Theatres, and Medication Safety and Antimicrobial Stewardship.  With about one third of the year on the Medical Ward and one third of the year on the Surgical Ward, the remaining rotations can be tailored to the intern’s particular areas of interest. 

Interns are allocated a patient load early in their training, being responsible for delivering the clinical and operational pharmacy service to our Maternity, Dialysis and Day Surgery Units (under supervision) throughout the year.  This responsibility provides an excellent opportunity for development of prioritisation and time management skills, development of expertise in these areas, and ensures interns are accustomed to working closely with pharmacy technicians. 

Interns also have regular access to their intern peers and other preceptors across northeast Victoria, via regular videoconferencing with Albury Wodonga Health, Goulburn Valley Health (Shepparton) and Echuca Regional Health.  Interns present & discuss cases to their peers & pharmacists, and also prepare for their final exams via mock oral practice exams conducted by pharmacists at Northeast Health Wangaratta, and from our AWH, GVH & ERH colleagues.  Connecting with other interns across the region and at Intern Training Program (ITP) seminars ensures our interns are well supported within & outside their workplaces.

Our program is designed around the key dates of the Monash University ITP, and NHW Pharmacy Interns can complete their Monash University MPharm (or Grad Cert Pharm Prac) during their internship, via Monash University’s Intern Foundation Program (IFP).  Our preceptors & mentors are experienced in supporting pharmacy interns to conduct research projects, and we also support interns who choose to undertake the ITP program offered by PSA.

If you’re looking for an internship year that will be stimulating, challenging, well-supported, a bit of fun and with minimal weekend work commitments, you’ve come to the right place.  We’re interested in getting to know you, so we can help you to apply your knowledge, & develop your skills & expertise in rural hospital pharmacy.

Contacts

Susan Trevillian, Director of Pharmacy
Tel: 03 5722 5324
Email: susan.trevillian@nhw.org.au or https://au.linkedin.com/in/susan-trevillian-5179a432

Olivia Douglas, Intern Preceptor
Tel: 03 5722 5160
Email: Olivia.Douglas@nhw.org.au

Intern positions

3 total (1 DHHS funded, 2 hospital funded)

Other resources