A pilot training programme for foreign doctors, trained under different systems to the ones used in New Zealand, appears to be off to a positive start.
Ten doctors who recently completed the 19 week bridging course have all landed jobs at Auckland Hospitals.
The graduating group have taken on roles as junior doctors which is a step down from the positions they held overseas.
But NZ Medical Council rules mean the doctors must start at that lower level - it also means they have more to adjust and learn.
Clinical Training Director for Waitematā, Dr Laura Chapman, said there is historical and anecdotal evidence that suggests doctors who have arrived from other countries on a pathway without supported training have had more struggles in their first two years in the workplace than local graduates.
Chapman said that means the foreign trained doctors have often left New Zealand or put extra responsibility and stress on their colleagues.
“Having 10 doctors start from a better place not only helps them, but it also delivers better patient care immediately,” Chapman said.
“It also shows potentially that New Zealand is looking after its immigrant doctor workforce and therefore other people will come and work here because they see we genuinely want people to be successful here.”
Dr Garima Malik told 1News her experience on the bridging programme was supportive and helped her understand how the New Zealand systems works – medically, socially and culturally.
“Medicine is the same all over the world but still it’s the way we practice that’s different,” Malik said.
“I came from India, I trained in India. The bridge programme was essentially a bridge between two systems and I gained essential skills to enable me to practice as a doctor in New Zealand.”
Te Whatu Ora said the initial evaluation of the pilot was, "positive but is not yet complete. Scaling training initiatives to grow our future workforce – particularly in rural areas – is one of the many key actions we’re taking as part of our Health Workforce Plan.”
The pilot programme cost $600,000 and the health authority hopes to be in a position to confirm "future rounds in the coming weeks.”
As for Malik, she said getting a job here is a dream come true.
“All I wanted to do is work as a doctor in a New Zealand hospital. Now I’m doing that I’m loving that its busy and it’s going really well for me.”
Chapman said New Zealand’s reliance on international medical graduates this programme has the potential to attract doctors from around the world.
That is one positive at a time when doctors are in short global supply and New Zealand doctor vacancies exceed 1700.
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