Lithgow's Ochre Health Medical Centre has welcomed two new doctors to its service.
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GP registrars Dr Edward Teo and Dr Hanh Ward have been enjoying the opportunity to work with the Lithgow community.
Dr Ward arrived in Lithgow November last year, while Dr Teo only recently moved to the area in January.
Both doctors said they had never been to the Lithgow region before, so this was an exciting step for them in their careers.
"Look, the Central Tablelands and the Blue Mountains regions always been a very nice area scenically so it's been quite nice exploring the area," Dr Teo said.
Dr Ward got her medical degree in Queensland, before undertaking her internship at Mackay Hospital and Proserpine Hospital. She then moved to New South Wales to commence her residency with Hunter New England Health at John Hunter Hospital, Calvary Mater Hospital and Armidale Hospital.
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"After that I took a year off to go travelling and have my wedding, but then COVID hit, so after that I found a job and my husband and I moved up here," she said.
Dr Teo went to Bond University in Queensland and graduated in 2014 before working as an intern and a junior house officer for the first two years at Gold Coast Hospital.
"I think we had to do rural relieving, so one month as a rural GP and I kind of liked it but didn't want to commit to GP land just yet," he said.
Since Dr Teo didn't want to specialise he worked as an ED at the Gold Coast Hospital before he moved back to Sydney to work as a Senior Resident and Registrar in the Emergency Department at Concord Repatriation General Hospital and Royal North Shore Hospital.
Then after three to four years of working in various places, he decided to settle down and just do family medicine at a general practice.
"Ochre Health has been pretty good, especially with subsidising the postgraduate studies," he said.
Both doctors agreed that there was a need for more rural GP's in rural and outback areas.
"I think hopefully this programme will encourage more longevity and retention, I think that's the idea, and this sponsorship helps with that," Dr Teo said.
While the doctors don't have too many specialist interests due to being happy with all aspects of general practice, Dr Ward said she did have one.
"I'm the only female in the clinic so I am interested in women's health and I've had a lot of experience in emergency," she said.
Dr Teo said that family medicine is unique because you get to see families grow up and you spend more time getting to know the patients over the years rather than the episodic care that he is used to in the hospital.
"There's a lot of people here where you can spend time with them for better or worse and getting to know them and helping them," he said.
Both doctors will be at the surgery Monday to Friday.
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