April 18, 2022

Locum Location -Orange, NSW

Our locum doctors in Orange kindly share with you their experience.

WHAT IS THE TEAM LIKE?

Friendly, approachable, very supportive and keen to teach. Not a difficult consultant in the entire department, which has to be a first!

TELL US ABOUT THE SETUP OF THE HOSPITAL AND SUPPORT FOR A LOCUM DOCTOR IN ORANGE?


Orange Health Service / Hospital NSW is a small ED, with an average of around 90 patients a day. Despite this, it has the best trauma statistics in regional NSW. This I believe can be largely attributed to the easy and friendly workplace relations that exist here. I am also pleased to report that it is not limited to trauma; every interaction with staff members from within the ED and the greater hospital was just a pleasure.  Orange currently runs with one FACEM per shift; and they are trying hard to fill a swing shift with a senior decision maker / FACEM, usually assigned to fast track / ambulatory care. There were three to four junior staff members on shift, with the majority of their registrars needing a reasonable amount of support.


Lots of specialities and services are given the size of the hospital. 24-hour cath lab. ENT, Urology, Haematology, oncology and palliative care. Supportive ICU. Orange takes referrals from an area the size of Germany. Definitely worth having a simple understanding of where the referral is coming from. Patients can take anywhere from 20 mins to an entire shift to arrive.
The patient demographics are generally on the younger side; with a fair amount of presentations due to trauma and injuries of some sort (then again, I was working in fast track!). It is a hardy farming community here that gets themselves into a lot of farm related difficulties; there is also a fair amount of elderly presentations too.

WHAT DOES THE TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION LOOK LIKE FOR A LOCUM DOCTOR IN ORANGE? 

3.5 hours drive from Sydney. Orange Airport 20 mins away. Flights were not readily available during COVID, it’s a bit better now. But still, need to be organised in advance. Simple but good size and clean accommodation. 15 min walk from town. 5km to the hospital. Does not have WiFi.

ANY LOCAL’S INSIDE INFORMATION TO SHARE? BEST SWIMMING SPOTS? LOOKOUTS? BIKE OR WALK TRAILS?

The wider region boasts more wineries than can feasibly be visited in a single locum stint, and the hinterland scenery is spectacular, especially in autumn when all the deciduous trees change colour and shed their leaves. A must for any locum doctor to check out.

Plenty of trail runs / walks at the top of Mount Canobolas and Lake Canobolas. Lookout from the pinnacle. Road cycling in all directions from town. Mountain biking park next to Lake Canobolas.

TOWN AMENITIES? SHOPS, COFFEE TIPS FOR A LOCUM DOCTOR IN ORANGE?

The community outside of work was just delightful and there is plenty to explore in town with regards to quirky coffee shops and restaurants with excellent local produce and adorable boutique shops selling all kinds of wares. A rapidly developing wine region. Primarily small growers producing high quality boutique wines. Best cellar doors are De Salis, Bloodwood, Canobolas Smith and Montorro.  Hospital has the best coffee of anywhere we’ve been. Run by Byng street coffee who also have a location in town. Anything grows cafe has a fantastic setting and food for brunch. For pastries Racine Bakery is unbeatable.
Restaurants –  Schoolhouse restaurant  (traditional),  Raku  (Japanese) and  Mr Lim  (Korean) Orange Wine centre acts as a wine bar/ cellar door for smaller producers. It has a lovely atmosphere on the weekends. Good pubs include the Lord Anson and the Gladstone.

WOULD YOU GO BACK TO ORANGE AS A LOCUM DOCTOR?

100% would highly recommend it. We spent 7 months there, after only planning 3 months initially, loved the department and the town. We left so that we could travel and see more of Australia. Interested in locum doctor jobs in Orange, visit our job pages:  ED Seniors FACEM ED Juniors ED GP/VMO .

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