Students from a new Waikato medical school will complete placements at training centres opening in five regions, in a move hailed as “fantastic” for the ongoing issue of recruiting permanent staff.
By Kira Carrington for Local Democracy Reporting
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey announced on Thursday that second and third-year students at the University of Waikato Graduate School of Medicine, set to open in 2028, would complete their clinical training in Community Clinical Learning Centres to be opened in five regions from 2029.
Those regions would be Marlborough-Nelson, Taranaki-Whanganui, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay, and the Bay of Plenty.
“Confirming these regions is a significant milestone in building a stronger, more regionally connected health workforce,” Brown said.
“We know that where doctors train often influences where they practise. By embedding students in regional and rural communities, we’re creating a pathway for more doctors to stay and work in the areas that need them most.”
Brown called the announcement a "significant milestone in building a stronger, more regionally connected health workforce".
"The programme has been designed so that students – particularly those from regional and rural backgrounds – can complete most of their training within their home regions."
Marlborough Primary Health chief executive Beth Tester told Local Democracy Reporting the programme was a "gamechanger" for health in the region.
“It's fantastic for Te Tauihu (top of the south), but especially Marlborough, who has such a hard job to recruit medical [practitioners] especially primary care and even doctors to the hospital,” Tester said.
Tester said about 20 students would head to Te Tauihu in 2029, of the 120 students to come out of the medical school each year.
The students would complete their second year at Nelson Hospital, then about eight of the 20 would complete their third and fourth years in Blenheim’s Wairau Hospital or at Marlborough primary health providers.
The number would increase over the next four years, to 32 medical students in Marlborough.
A new Community Clinical Learning Centre would be established to provide accommodation for the students as well as a clinical training hub, Tester said. The location of the hub was still being finalised.
“It’s the beginning, I think, of changing how postgraduate education could be undertaken in Marlborough, with other universities potentially wanting to utilise the facility as well to train people locally instead of having to go away,” she said.
The joint Nelson-Tasman-Marlborough proposal put forward by Marlborough Primary Health and Nelson Bays Primary Health Trust was the only successful bid in the South Island.
Tester said the support of the Marlborough District Council and Te Tauihu iwi to help secure a building for the new clinical training hub was pivotal to the successful bid.
The students could work in a range of different specialities, from urgent care to general practice, she said.
“GPs are very excited, they're keen to actually share their skills. They can see a future that is going to be so beneficial for the community of Marlborough to actually help with the workforce and resourcing of the practises.”
Tester said Blenheim’s privately-owned Churchill Hospital had also expressed interest in hosting students, and “quite a few” senior doctors had put their hands up to train them.
The programme was hoped to address Marlborough’s struggles with attracting and keeping doctors in the region, particularly given the ageing workforce. They had been relying on one to two-year stints from overseas doctors to fill vacancies, Tester said.
“We found [that] once we’ve actually found doctors that trained here as baby GPs, they love it. They live for the practice, they have a long-term position, and they stay.”
Embedding young doctors into the community, and helping their partners and families settle in also helped, she said.
“The top of the south actually is an attractive place to live, and Marlborough, especially with the sounds and other outdoor activities that many young doctors like to participate in.”
Marlborough mayor Nadine Taylor called the announcement a “transformational opportunity”.
“This is ... a major step towards building a sustainable local health workforce here for the future,” Taylor said.
“I’m excited about the long-term benefits this investment will bring to our communities and the region.”
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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