Aotearoa has been facing an ongoing crisis around understaffing in our healthcare sector. ASMS predicts that almost 3000 more doctors across hospital care and primary care are needed to address the shortages.1 With such a huge issue facing our system many are looking towards the new generation of doctors to fill these spaces and much has been said about increasing numbers of medical students entering the workforce. NZMSA welcomes any initiatives that aim to address the current workforce shortages.

Much has been said recently about increasing the number of medical students entering medical school and as representatives of the medical students in Aotearoa, while excited at the prospect of increasing the numbers of students in our field, find that this alone will not result in more doctors entering the workforce in Aotearoa following graduation.

We recognize the need for increasing the number of Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY1) positions available to graduating medical students as key to this issue. In 2021 there were 561 graduates who applied for first year jobs in Aotearoa through the ACE scheme. This was an increase from previous years. Only 528 of these were matched to a job due to the lack of PGY1 positions available.

Thus, despite the doctor shortage, 33 students who were eligible to apply to work in Aotearoa were not matched with a job. 2 NZMSA identifies this as a key bottleneck in the medical school to system pipeline and feels that it is a key issue in the bigger picture of health workforce shortages.

Current medical students identify this is an area of great concern for them. Many want to stay and work in Aotearoa but are concerned about their job prospects. NZMSA also recognises the great loss for our medical system in the event that these young doctors are forced to seek employment overseas, not just from a staff shortage perspective, but also because these doctors have trained in our domestic system and are familiar with the needs of Aotearoa’s population. That knowledge is key to helping address the health needs of our society especially for our under-served communities.

Further investing is needed in infrastructure and staffing to allow the creation of more PGY1 positions to allow every medical student who graduates from a university in Aotearoa to be able to find work in the country's health workforce. NZMSA also believes that this work should have a central focus on developing rural and underserved areas to increase the flow of health professionals into these communities. 

NZMSA’s position is that the acute need for more PGY1 positions is a key issue not just for students but for the health workforce as a whole.

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