"I start work at 8am,'' Dr O'Donnell laments, ``Amy starts at 4pm, and I knock off at 5pm, so we don't see each other at all. Unless we make a dinner date we have trouble catching up.''

Weekends are their salvation, however, Dr O'Donnell says: "We went to a music festival earlier in the year, and we catch up with friends in Melbourne.

"We have spent a few weekends exploring Bendigo, it is a pretty little town, there is still plenty to discover, it is still surprising me.''

Drs O'Donnell and Chambers, both interns at BendigoHospital, have quite different backgrounds.

"I grew up in rural Victoria,'' Dr O'Donnell says, ``and was exposed to the significant lack of specialised health care out there. "I didn't really know what I wanted to do having finished Year 12, but I was encouraged by my biology teacher in particular to pursue medicine.''

Dr Chambers has lived a mobile life. ``I moved around quite a bit when I was a child, my dad was in the mining industry. We lived in Queensland for a while, then moved to London. When we were there I did a year of French, and loved it, but when we moved back to Australia the schools I went to only taught Japanese.

"At the moment I am not working that many hours, so I am taking French lessons, which I really enjoy. At university medicine takes over your life, you don't have time to study anything else, but now I have decided I would like to get back into French. It is also a nice way to meet people outside the medical world.''

Dr Chambers finished school in Queensland, but received the offer of a scholarship from MonashUniversity, so it was up-sticks once again.

"I decided to stay in Victoria as I knew the hospitals and felt more comfortable staying with my colleagues, so I decided to come to Bendigo with my Sean. We live five minutes walk from the hospital, everything is close, you have a lot more time to yourself not having to commute.''

Having seen what the world offers, Dr Chambers knows what she wants. "I plan to settle in a regional centre, I don't see myself raising children in the city.''

Drs Chambers and O'Donnell value BendigoHospital's training program."You get a lot of exposure to quality teaching,'' Dr O'Donnell says, "there are not so many rungs in the ladder up to the boss of the unit. If you ever need to contact them they know you by name and are prepared to give you the time to explain yourself and to help you out.''

CALL OF THE COUNTRY

Now a medical registrar, Dr Moksh Sethi has worked in several Victorian country hospitals. "Last year I moved to Bendigo and did a general year here. I want to do physician training so I took up the position of medical registrar here for this year. "I am enrolled in physician training, this is my first year.

"I enjoyed working here last year, that's why I decided to continue on this year. I have always been interested in physician training, I am interested in neurology, and I will probably be moving to the city next year to do some specialist rotations.''

Dr Sethi intends to return to the country: ``My wife is a General Practitioner, she is going to be working in the country and Bendigo would probably be the best place to work. It is a very liveable city. You've got everything, amazingly good places to eat, wineries all around.

"We really enjoy living here. The cost of living is low and you spend less time travelling. The hospital has been fantastic, they support us really well, they have given us really good accommodation at subsidised rates.''

Physician training was Dr Sethi's long-term goal.

"I have always been interested in internal medicine, have never been interested in the surgical side of things. I like the process involved in figuring out patients with multiple issues and most of the general medical patients have got quite a number of medical problems.

"Working out how they interact with each other, working through a complicated situation is a mental challenge that I find interesting.''

He too is enthusiastic about BendigoHospital: ``I did an ICU rotation here last year and it was one of the best I have ever done. There was really good teaching and really good consultants there. It was one of the best learning experiences I've had.''

Asked what makes a good doctor, Dr Sethi: "You have to be competent as well as compassionate.''