This week, NSW Health welcomed more than 1000 interns to the system across the state, who will undertake a supervised year of practice in order to become independent practitioners.

Junior medical officer (JMO) Indianna Chant is one of 31 interns who began at Wagga Base this week.

Raised in Leeton and graduating from UNWS, she chose an internship in Wagga to be closer to home - and because of her passion for rural health.

"I see that sometimes the area's under-served and people here have lower health because of the limited access, so I just want to - in my small way - help people access healthcare," she said.

Dr Chant hopes to further her study and receive a well-rounded view of healthcare before specialising in general practice as a rural generalist, to "keep [her] skills in the area".

A recent stint in Gundagai helped foster this career aspiration.

"The life that GPs have beyond just medicine in the town was something that I could really see myself doing for the rest of my life," she said.

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Born-and-bred Sydneysider Aziz Lawandos is another JMO beginning his internship in Wagga after completing a medical elective in the region through UNSW recently.

He said Wagga Base appealed to him because it has "an incredible reputation, resources here have been recently upgraded and I've heard nothing but positive things".

Dr Lawandos was inspired to enter the medical field after watching his younger sister suffer intense medical complications.

"That really gave me an insight into what it's like to be in the medical profession and what it is to potentially help a family, and that was really where the seed was sown and here I am today."

He said entering the profession during COVID is intimidating but also a "call to arms", and that he hopes to provide assistance to the medical officers who've been doing it tough for the past two years.

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