MEDIA RELEASE
WHERE WILL THE DOCTORS OF THE FUTURE TRAIN?
College of General Practitioners and Universities of Auckland and Otago working to ensure doctors can train in general
practice settings.
Medical students and junior doctors benefit greatly from working with patients and health workers in general practice
settings.
“The ability to train doctors in general practice settings is a critical part of ensuring New Zealand can meet its
future health workforce needs,” says Otago University academic Professor Peter Crampton.
The Universities of Auckland and Otago train the country’s medical students while the Royal New Zealand College of
General Practitioners trains graduates wishing to specialise in general practice.
“The appointment of a National General Practice Clinical Placement Coordinator is a first step in the College and
Universities of Auckland and Otago working together on this important issue,” Professor Crampton said.
In recent years the annual intake of medical students has increased as has the number of positions for specialist
training in general practice. As the demand for training places in general practice settings has increased the
availability of placement opportunities has remained static. The two Universities and the College are concerned that
this trend will continue and that it will be increasingly difficult to find suitable placements for all students and
junior doctors.
“We want to make sure that practices, general practitioners, junior doctors and medical students all have the best
possible experience of training in general practice,“ he said.
The National Coordinator’s tasks include:
o developing a national database of practices providing clinical training,
o promoting clinical teaching in general practice, and
o supporting local coordinators in finding placement sites for individual students and junior doctors.
Based at the College’s office in Wellington, the coordinator reports to a committee representing the College and both
Universities and chaired by Professor Crampton.
The committee is developing a workplan for collaboration on wider issues affecting clinical training in general practice
including:
o establishing a national quality framework for under-graduate and post-graduate clinical training in general practices
o establishing a national network of clinical training practices, and
o identifying funding mechanisms to ensure clinical training in general practice settings is sustainable.
Professor Crampton said the Universities and College recognise that ensuring general practice can reach its full
potential in training the future medical workforce requires national leadership, and they look forward to working
closely with the health and tertiary education sectors and especially with the newly formed Medical Training Board.
ENDS