The University of Auckland's medical faculty deputy dean Warwick Bagg said he was thrilled. Photo: 123RF
Fifty students who would otherwise have been turned away from med school will now have the chance to become doctors.
The government has announced it would fund the extra places nationally from next year, to help train homegrown doctors and stem shortages.
The University of Auckland's medical faculty deputy dean Warwick Bagg said he was thrilled.
"It gives 50 more students the opportunity to study medicine in what is a highly sought-after course," he said.
"We have no shortage of excellent students applying to do medicine, and this has opened the door more for those students to study medicine and contribute to the country."
He did not yet know how the extra students would be divided between Auckland and the other medical school at the University of Otago. But Auckland was ready to go now, he said.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall gave a guest lecture to medical students on Thursday, urging some to head into general practice, which has hundreds of older doctors set to retire.
One student challenged her to make sure there were enough junior doctor placements, saying some students already struggled to find jobs.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
But the minister said there were plenty of jobs around, as long as doctors accepted they might not get their first choice.
President of the New Zealand Medical Students Association Thomas Swinburn said the extra funding was good news.
"Medical school is an apprenticeship. We gain experience over time, gradually, under the supervision of doctors and it's really the quality of these experiences that determine the quality of these doctors."
Bagg said it was important to have locally trained doctors who understood New Zealand's cultures.
"We have for too long been reliant on overseas-trained doctors and this is a great step towards us training more medical students in New Zealand."
The university had the capacity to take on even more students, but was happy with the number announced so far while the government worked out its plans for how to ease pressure on the health system, he said.