Govt take further step in setting up proposed third medical school
Tuesday, 13 February 2024
Officials signed a memorandum of understanding for a third medical school on Tuesday
This will allow progress to establish a business case for another medical school, amid a ‘dire’ shortage of Kiwi doctors
A proposed third medical school would have a focus on primary care, and they plan for a four-year graduate entry, rather than six years.
The Government has taken a further step in addressing a “critical” shortage of New Zealand-trained doctors in its plan to establish a third medical school.
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced a Memorandum of Understanding for a third medical school had been signed by the Ministry of Health and University of Waikato on Tuesday, described as a “big step forward”.
The memorandum of understanding would allow the parties to progress with establishing a business case for a third school, as Aotearoa faced “a dire shortage of Kiwi doctors”.
Reti said increasing the number of “homegrown” health professionals was a “top priority”, to ensure all New Zealanders had timely access to quality healthcare.
“New Zealanders have been facing longer and longer delays in accessing healthcare, and tackling our workforce crisis is key to solving that issue,” he said.
The country’s existing medical schools, at the University of Auckland and University of Otago, were “top quality” and had both benefited from increased places this year, Reti said.
However, many GPs were planning to retire in the next 10 years, which would particularly impact provincial and rural communities already being hit by doctor shortages, he said.
“A proposed third medical school will have a focus on primary care. We will take time to consider the needs of rural areas and we envisage a four year graduate entry program, instead of the existing six year programs.
Reti said the initiative also looked to retain more New Zealanders in our domestic medical school programs, as more than 300 New Zealand students a year have been training in Australian medical schools.
“The University and the Ministry will now begin working through the necessary steps to ensure the best training model can be developed. This includes a cost-benefit analysis to give everyone assurance of the feasibility of this program,” Reti said.
“Signing off on an MoU was a key commitment in the coalition Government’s 100-day plan that formalises the start of a business case and I am delighted to have seen it through today.”