By Kerri-Anne Mesner
BORN and bred Deer Park resident Paul Eleftheriou will maintain his link with the West as he has taken up a position at Sunshine Hospital.
The 26-year-old first year intern said he had always had a passion to help out in the West because it had struggled for a long time to provide adequate medical resources and staff.
Dr Eleftheriou started his first day as an intern on Monday, after undergoing one week of orientation at the Western Hospital in Footscray and Sunshine Hospital in St Albans.
He said the orientation week provided him with a lot of insight, some of which came as a bit of a surprise.
“It was a steep learning curve but it was very exciting,” Dr Eleftheriou said.
Dr Eleftheriou started his first year internship after completing a bachelor of biomedical science at Monash University, then a bachelor of medicine/surgery at Melbourne University.
“I’ve always had an interest in the medical science,” he said. “And I’ve always liked working with people.”
Dr Eleftheriou said while had always had the idea of wanting to stay in the Western suburbs, his placements at Western and Sunshine Hospitals while he was studying helped cement the desire.
He is one of 44 first year interns that started working with Western Health this week.
The interns will undertake five rotations during the course of the year including working in general medicine, emergency, general surgery, special surgery and working in the country (Wodonga).
Dr Eleftheriou said his first rotation would be in general medicine.
He attended Deer Park Primary School and Overnewton Anglican Community College.
He also played soccer with Westvale and Sunshine Heights clubs and currently plays indoor soccer.
Dr Eleftheriou is the first person in his family to become a doctor and is looking to buy his own home in the area in the coming years.
