Grampians Health
Grampians Health Ballarat Website
Grampians Health has brought together the four hospitals of Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital, Stawell Regional Health, Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services to deliver safe, equitable and accessible healthcare for all people, tailored to changing workforce and community needs, for the long term.
Grampians Health Ballarat (GH-B) is the largest regional health service in the Grampians region, and as such it is the principal referral hospital for the region, which extends from Bacchus Marsh to the South Australian border; an area of 48,000 square kilometres. Grampians Health Ballarat comprises two campuses which include a large Victorian regional centre Emergency department (with VST and cardiac catheterization services), acute medical and surgical services (224 beds), psychiatric services (67 beds), aged care assessment, sub-acute care, palliative care, psycho-geriatric and rehabilitation (70 beds).
Intern program information
SIX intern positions are available in 2025 (government-funded)
Our structured training program provides interns with a wealth of learning opportunities to achieve their goal of becoming a registered pharmacist. The program is designed to promote the highest level of clinical knowledge, dispensing and manufacturing accuracy and support for the transition from intern to registered pharmacist.
Campuses where pharmacy interns will work: Based at Grampians Health Ballarat (Ballarat Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Campus). Interns will also complete a 4-6 week rotation to Grampians Health Horsham.
Rotations:
- Elective rotations: Grampians Health at Home (GH at Home), Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Mental Health, Oncology (inpatients)
- Operational rotations: Dispensary (inpatients and outpatients), Aseptic manufacturing, Clinical trials, Guardrails and Guidelines, Pharmacist Partnered Medication Charting (PPMC)
- Clinical rotations: General medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, Pharmacist-led ambulatory clinics, Surgical, Sub-acute (geriatrics, palliative care and rehabilitation wards), Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS), Dialysis, Paediatrics and Special Care Nursery.
- Interns will complete a rotation to the ‘Intern ward’ for 4 weeks. This is a low-acuity ward, where interns will be responsible for the provision of all aspects of pharmacy care under supervision and with support.
Support structure:
Interns are assigned an individual preceptor for their year of training. Each preceptor has extensive experience in mentorship and a passion for teaching and development of our interns. All preceptors have completed the Monash Clinical Educator course that was developed by our Deputy Director of Pharmacy Clinical Services and Education.
Individual feedback and goal setting sessions follow each rotation to encourage interns to progress their learning, self-reflect on practice and plan for continuing professional development opportunities. Preceptors work closely with the Senior Education Pharmacist to tailor learning plans based on intern needs.
Educational activities:
Tutorials are provided weekly throughout the year with the primary aims of helping interns prepare for their oral examination, explore clinical topics (i.e. disease state, medication knowledge) to complement work-based learning, and promote learning for the interns in a safe and supportive environment.
Tutorials are led by pharmacists from Ballarat and Horsham, and often in collaboration with Senior Medical officers and other staff outside of the department. They involve ‘mock’ cases modelled after the Pharmacy Board oral examination, and case studies to ultimately prepare our interns to be exceptional hospital pharmacists.
In addition, our tutorials are:
- Scheduled to align with topics covered in discussion blocks for the Monash ITP program
- Recorded to allow for intern revision throughout the year
- Able to attended virtually during rotations to Horsham
- Designed to progress in clinical complexity as the year progresses to match intern growth
Primary care tutorials are completed by the end of August to provide sufficient time to revise prior to the Pharmacy Board Oral examination.
Checklists are provided for various clinical rotations throughout the year. These are designed to guide structured learning through self-directed activities. Interns work closely with their supervising pharmacists to complete various tasks on the checklist that allow the intern to demonstrate application of knowledge in practice.
Exam preparation:
We offer extensive one-on-one exam preparation that begins several months prior to exams. Interns have the opportunity to complete exams with pharmacists within the team who are Pharmacy Board examiners, and all exams are completed under strict exam conditions.
Intern Foundation Program (IFP)
Grampians Health Ballarat and Grampians Health Horsham are Monash University IFP credentialed workplaces.
Research projects are coordinated by the Senior Management team and interns are extremely well supported in this area. Tutorials are provided on data collection and data presentation, and proposals and abstracts are peer reviewed prior to submission.
Contacts
Pharmacy Intern Training Program:
Raveena Chadha (Education Pharmacist)
Ph: 03 5320 4356
E: raveena.chadha@bhs.org.au
Intern positions in 2025
- 6 DHHS funded