Hundreds more doctors could be trained if government funded them - report

The two country's two existing medical schools could train hundreds more doctors a year if the government agreed to fund them, according to a report commissioned by the universities of Otago and Auckland.

The report - Medical education in New Zealand: current state and consideration of future options - by PwC found Otago and Auckland between them could boost their intake from the current cap of 589 to 889 from 2027.

By contrast, it found Waikato University's plan for a third medical school - the National School of Rural Health - would cost the government hundreds of millions in set-up costs, and create increased competition for academic staff and clinical placements for students.

New Zealand is currently short about 1700 doctors, which is set to double by 2032, as the country grapples with a health funding crisis.

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The dean of Auckland's Medical School, professor Warwick Bagg, said both Otago and Auckland were "ready to step up".

"We are able to leverage existing resources, capability and facilities while deploying our experience and expertise to rapidly increase the intake of trainee doctors."

All the government needed to do was increase the number of students it allowed to study medicine and fund those students, he said.

In Budget 2024, the government confirmed 25 additional medical places for 2025, half of the 50 previously promised.

According to the report, Otago and Auckland could lift collective intake by a further 100 places in 2026, ratcheting up to an extra 300 places a year from 2027.

Medical school training now

• More than 1750 people apply to medical school each year, but the government caps funding to 589 domestic students.
• Auckland: cap of 287 domestic student and 30 international students per year.
• Otago: cap of 302 domestic students and 20 international students per year.
• Shortage of placement options in hospitals and the community is the main reason.

According to the report, GP placements were "a particular challenge".

"General practices are private businesses that often do not have the necessary physical spaces nor consistent teacher availability, causing students to be squeezed into overpopulated placements, decreasing their quality of learning.

"In addition, it is increasingly difficult for universities to pay GPs sufficiently to cover the costs of placements."

Adding Waikato into the mix would make such placements even harder to find, the report said.

"As more students are placed in placements where the learning environment may not be at the current high standards, they are more at risk of not experiencing psychological safety during learning.

"Outside of placements' learning environment, student wellbeing is at risk when they are away from their support networks or are travelling large distances. Placements of this nature may also place students under significant financial strain."

University of Otago Medical School acting dean Professor Tim Wilkinson pointed out both schools already had teaching facilities and regional placements in regional and rural programmes throughout the country.

"The country's biggest problem is not about education facilities. It is about funding more students to study medicine and ensuring sufficient clinical placements around the country for them to learn on the job," he said.

Over the past 10 years, one in three medical students who have graduated in New Zealand have left the country.

Rather than building a third medical school - "which may not only cost hundreds of millions of dollars but also take more than two years to begin training doctors" - it would be better to build capacity at Auckland and Otago, the deans said.

"We are ready to work with the government, Te Whatu Ora and others who educate health professionals to deliver a health workforce that meets the country's needs."