Record number of trainee psychiatrists working out west: Here's how to keep them

The cohort of 14 new doctors will undertake work across different mental health units and services within the Western NSW Local Health District.

Four will complete a term in mental health and then return to the general hospital, while ten of these doctors have chosen to specialize in psychiatry.

Dr Scott Clarke has been working in the psychiatry field since 1990 and is the clinical director and director of medical services for Western District, a job that involves recruiting and appointing the new trainees.

"My job is to make as best I can, the environment for these young doctors can learn and experience all the good things about psychiatry," he said.

"It's really important to have a good learning environment."

Of the group, ten doctors will be based across Orange and Bathurst health services and another four will begin work at Dubbo Hospital.

Psychiatry training requires a doctor to undertake a minimum of five years of study and supervised work in mental health, in addition to the years in medical school and undertaking internships.

Dr Clarke said in regional and rural areas there had been a long tradition of having specialists flying in and out of Sydney.

"While that continues, what we've developed as a training program across our district where people can live in the Central West, do all their training out here and they tend to stay here," he added.

"What we've been able to accomplish over the last 15 years is train up and graduate as specialist consultants, now eight doctors who all except for one are working in our doctors or a rural district in NSW.

"That's seven doctors we wouldn't have if we didn't have the training program we developed in our district."

Dr Catherine Hickie, WNSWLHD psychiatrist and psychiatry training coordinator, said the new starters would train across different disciplines to ensure diversity of experience, adding to the program's already-successful history.

"Western NSW was the first regional Local Health District in NSW to have all the necessary training available so that doctors can remain resident locally throughout the five years of training," Dr Hickie said.

"This matters because these are the pivotal years when doctors settle on the community they will make their home, forge personal and professional relationships, and start families."