Northern-Health
Campuses at which pharmacy interns will work:
- The Northern Hospital - 185 Cooper Street, Epping (primary site of internship)
- Broadmeadows Hospital - 35 Johnstone Street, Broadmeadows
- Bundoora Centre - 1231 Plenty Road, Bundoora
- Craigieburn Health Service - 274-304 Craigieburn Rd, Craigieburn
- Kilmore District Hospital - 1 Anderson Rd, Kilmore
Hospital information
Northern Health is the major provider of acute, maternity, sub-acute and specialist services in Melbourne’s rapidly growing outer north. Across our campuses we provide a range of primary, secondary and tertiary health care services. Each year our organisation treats over 107,000 patients in the emergency department, cares for over 94,000 patients admitted to hospital, and assists with the delivery of over 4,000 babies.
The Northern Health catchment includes three of the state's six growth areas: Hume, Whittlesea and Mitchell, and the Northern growth corridor population is projected to grow by 59 per cent between 2016 and 2031. The swift development of new suburbs in the north, will see our population grow by 17% (69,000 people) in the next 5 years alone and by over 58% (more than 228,000 people) by 2031. Northern Health cares for a diverse community: with people who were born in more than 185 countries, speak over 106 different languages and follow over 90 different religions or beliefs.
The Victorian Government’s announcement of $162.7 million in funding from the State Budget saw Northern Health’s tower grow an additional four storeys which in 2021. More state-of-the-art facilities and services including a new satellite pharmacy ensure patients are treated locally and in a timely manner. We are increasing our services and capacity to improve access and meet the growing demands of the Northern community.
Staff benefits include:
- Salary packaging is available to all staff of Northern Health and this reduces the taxable income, resulting in increased take home pay
- Academic research partners - Melbourne University and La Trobe University
- Staff lifestyle and wellness program - Our Lifestyle Program offers yoga, health assessments and competitions. A number of fully equipped gyms in the local area are open to all employees and their partners at a discounted rate
- Employee assistance and pastoral services; we facilitate a Peer Support program, and employ pastoral carers for employee wellbeing.
- Northern Health staff have access to a range of transport options, including a bus station, railway stations, and on-site car parks at all campuses.
- Our employee intranet site features an ever-growing list of companies offering discounts to Northern Health employees
Department Information
Director of Pharmacy: Mr Vinod Chellaram
Northern Health has a pharmacy department consisting of approximately 120 pharmacists, 5 interns and 30 pharmacy technicians working throughout the five campuses.
The range of specialty areas within the department include:
- Inpatient and outpatient clinical pharmacy services, including haematology, oncology, renal, emergency department, hospital in the home, palliative care, gastroenterology, cardiology, respiratory, stroke/neurology, geriatric medicine, mental health, general surgery, intensive care, paediatrics, neonatal and maternity services, anticoagulant stewardship and antimicrobial stewardship.
- Clinical trials
- Sterile and non-sterile manufacturing
- Clinical education and research
- Quality Use of Medicines
Our team consists of approachable, experienced senior pharmacists, together with junior pharmacists developing their knowledge and skills. This provides an extremely supportive and friendly working environment, which aims to motivate and challenge, thus creating opportunities to learn. The Pharmacy department is open from 8 am till 5 pm on weekdays and 9 am till 1pm on weekends/public holidays. An average working week consists of 40 hours and interns work weekends and public holidays on a rotation of about one in four weeks which contribute to registration hours. Interns are also entitled to an accrued day off each month.
Click here to find out more about Northern Health Pharmacy
Intern program information:
5 Intern Pharmacist positions are available at Northern Health in 2025
Rotations: Intern Pharmacists will be rotated between clinical roles (approx. 75%), dispensary (approx. 12.5%) and manufacturing (approx. 12.5%). There will also be rotations to our sub-acute sites (Broadmeadows Hospital and Bundoora Centre) as well as involvement in research and quality improvement activities. Ward rotations include medical, surgical, emergency department, maternity, paediatric, psychiatric and cardiology. Interns will be working under the supervision of experienced pharmacists, who will aid the interns in developing their clinical skills and knowledge. Interns will also have opportunities to communicate with other health professionals involved in the patient's care, and be involved in the multi-disciplinary team.
Tutorials: Tutorials are conducted weekly on a wide range of clinical and primary care topics including preparation for exams. Tutorials may be given by the intern coordinator, senior pharmacists and the interns themselves.
Intern Pharmacist Tutorial Roster
Support: Each intern is allocated a dedicated mentor, who is a recently registered pharmacist familiar with the intern training year and the expectations for exam preparations. The interns have weekly meetings with their mentor, to improve their drug knowledge and discuss any clinical or operational questions the intern may have. The interns also have the Intern Training Program Coordinator (preceptor) who supports the interns throughout the year and coordinates tutorials, practice exams and required documentation for Board and training program assessments. The majority of staff within the department are involved in assisting the interns throughout the year.
Exams: Interns will undertake practice exams for both the written (in group) and oral (one-on-one) exams.
Northern Health offers the Intern Foundation Program, which enables interns to obtain a Graduate Certificate in Pharmacy Practice from Monash University by recognising workplace learning.
Contacts
Mr Jeff Khoshaba. Lead Pharmacist - Education, Development and Research:
Contact: Jeff.Khoshaba@nh.org.au
Intern positions in 2025
- 5 total (DHHS funded)