Wednesday January 22, 2025
Opinion: Graduates and fresh faces grasp future
Yvonne Hewitt – Education and Training director
Each new year marks the beginning of a career journey for hundreds of new health professionals commencing their chosen profession at Barwon Health. Most of these nurses, midwives, allied health graduates, medical interns and mental health professionals have undertaken clinical placements with us during their pre-registration training, while others are new to Barwon Health. All are likely feeling a combination of eager and anxious to get started. Our goal is to ensure everyone feels welcome, safe and supported to contribute to our health service. We want to see every health professional reach their full potential, find fulfilment in their work, and deliver the best outcomes for our community.
As our future workforce takes these first steps in their healthcare careers, our clinical education team focuses on facilitating connections with peers, and ensuring they are prepared with the skills and knowledge required for their new roles. Our learning spaces are buzzing with eager new talent bringing not only their new qualifications, but a vast array of prior work, educational and life experiences that we hope to harness for learning, innovation and service improvement. Our dedicated, expert educators are in high-demand, ready to teach, guide and encourage new clinicians across all settings and professions. There is also a sharing of wisdom and a transfer of knowledge happening within these spaces that sets up our new workforce for success.
As a regional tertiary health service with a comprehensive service model, Barwon Health offers an unparalleled opportunity for graduates to learn and thrive in their new professions. We offer a unique blend of clinical work, care settings, services, community engagement, and opportunities for development that provide the springboard for career development, not only into clinical specialisation, but also into broader fields such as education, research, quality and management. The diversity of Barwon Health services allows early career professionals to find their niche and tailor their career development to their strengths and interests. Our regional setting enables a strong sense of community and belonging, rewarding for those caring for the community they live and work in. The collaboration that exists across the Barwon South West region and with other health and non-health organisations provides a unique opportunity to ‘get involved’ and access and share expertise in a wide professional network.
We have high hopes for all our new graduates as they embark on their professional journeys. They will be the future leaders, researchers and innovators who will advance healthcare in the decades to come. We provide a supportive work environment that encourages growth and learning, promotes a culture of continuous improvement and recognises the contributions of each employee as an integral contributor to safe, quality care that impacts both Barwon Health and the community it serves.