The Royal Darwin Hospital is a busy teaching hospital with 635 beds and provides medical and surgical services to the people of the Northern Territory. It is located in a tropical climate which makes it an ideal place to work for doctors who enjoy outdoor activities and exploring new places.
There are many local attractions in Darwin such as Mindil Beach Markets, Crocosaurus Cove, Wave Pool and Water Slide World. Restaurants range from fine dining to casual cafes offering international cuisine. Outdoor activities include fishing, hiking, biking and swimming. And if you're looking for a change of pace, there are several stunning accessible natural monuments, including Uluru (Ayers Rock).
Tourist locations nearby include Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park & Katherine Gorge. The Royal Darwin Hospital is an excellent facility where locum doctors can gain valuable experience while enjoying all that this unique region has to offer.
So if you're thinking about applying for a locum position at the Royal Darwin Hospital, don't hesitate - it really is an incredible place to work!
Great emergency department to work in. Lots of senior support during day and overnight. Interesting cases and generally everyone very friendly. Would definitely recommend to other locums. I didnt have much ED experience and felt well supported. IT systems + documentation is a bit slow and can be pretty tedious. Accommodation- hospital accomm is apparently not great, I was put up in Club Tropical which was amazing- clean modern and has a pool. Outside of work- recommend coffee & croissants at Ruby G's, Nightcliff beach for a dip or sunbathe, Nightcliff pool for some laps and obviously road trips out to Litchfield and Kakadu on time off!
Overall I loved my experience in Darwin ED as an SRMO. I was working there for 6 months. The patients were very interesting and complex- lots of tropical medicine, meliodosis, TB, trauma, domestic violence. During my time here I felt like I did not have the opportunity to get hands-on procedural skills comparitively to other hospitals I have worked in. It was very supportive and EXPECTED that you run past every patient with a registrar or consultant. The paper/ online system was challenging to get used to, during my time they upgraded to a new system (Acacia) that staff did not like using, and preferred the old system (Jadecare). I believe they are trying to reintroduce Acacia. On nights its often 3-4 registrars, 3-4 RMOs. They can be a bit funny with being peoples references and the department have stated that they need to see you work for 6 months prior to being a reference (Just FYI for job application season). My time in Darwin was lots of fun (especially in the dry season) as there were a lot of events and festivals to go to. It was easy to travel to places during my time off and managed to get to litchfield, kakadu, katherine, kununurra. I was placed in an airbnb for the first 3 months in Nightcliff that was absolutely stunning, then moved as I carried on my stay to Brinkin in a 3 bedroom place with a pool! RDH also covered a car for me. Overall, I loved my time here and felt that it improved my skills as a clinician with so much complex medicine.
Very supportive registrars and interesting medicine made this placement great. It was initially slightly confusing using paper medication charts and online notes in ED and then using online medication charts and paper notes on the ward - however everyone was happy to help me out when needed. Darwin has a friendly, supportive culture which I would definitely recommend.
In general a very good experience. Very interesting ED case mix with relatively high acuity and good Resus exposure as an SRMO once the consultants and registrars have established your level. Good FACEM support. The hybrid paper-digital system is quite antiquated and takes some getting used to. The accomodation left a lot to be desired - an old studio with no wifi and an outdoor laundry that lacked privacy and inadequate ventilation in the bathroom. It can be quite isolating given the sometimes extreme weather and the distance from the hospital to the centre of town. There is also no lock or gate to stop anyone accessing the staff accomodation - and I had laundry powder stolen from outside my front door. That said, it was easy to get to work and the included pool access was nice. Would definitely recommend hiring a car or bike for a protracted stay. All in all, would definitely recommend RDH as an opportunity to experience Darwin and medicine in the top end. You may want to outlay some of your earnings on nicer accommodation or a car if you want to live more comfortably while you are there!
I worked in ED and found it to be a very supportive environment (standard set up of FACEMs/accredited registrars) with great registrars on over night. It was busy and there was a broad range of presentations including a lot of domestic violence/assault, trauma and infectious disease. There is often double bunking of patients (two patients in one ED bay) which can be a little awkward to manage, but I felt that there was a manageable patient :doctor ratio most of the time compared to other hospitals I’ve worked at. The accommodation is on site and is pretty basic, the windows don’t open but there is air con, a studio-style kitchen, and there’s an outdoor pool.
Overall this was an amazing placement even if it was extremely hard work and thoroughly exhausting. Darwin is a beautiful place and visiting Darwin is what makes this placement, not necessarily just the hospital. Context: ED RMO Workload: As an RMO you're working hard and it is a very busy department (constant Code Yellow), but you're very well supported. Always have multiple consultants during the day, and there is loads of registrars around. Overnight there is 3 registrars on so there's plenty of senior help easily accessible even if the TL reg is dealing with resus. Case demographic: Extremely complex presentations with not only advanced disease, tropical medicine, homelessness (12x the rate of anywhere else in Aus), assaults, trauma, Aboriginal health and unfortunately lots of domestic violence. By far the most challenging medicine I have ever had to do in Australia but it's worth it. Just be well prepared for what you will have to manage. Daily workflow is the same as any other ED, with a largely paper-based system. The status board is digital, but all notes are paper based, pathology and radiology is digital. Most people type their notes onto a template on the computer and print it out, so it's less laborious. Accommodation is N/a for me since I stayed with friends and family here. There should be plenty of other comments on accom but as long as you're off-site, it's fine. RDH ED covered a hire car for me also which was great. I would recommend this role to other RMOs short term. 3-6 months is ideal and by the end of it, you're exhausted from all the hard work. Favourite non-clinical thing about the placement is all the awesome activities in Darwin, the walking, fishing, camping and all of the delicious food at the markets!!