The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and the Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network are calling for investment in a proposed training pathway for rural GPs, warning that many rural practices struggle to recruit while a large share of the existing workforce nears retirement.

The pathway, GP Rural, would sit within the college's General Practice Education Programme and give registrars sustained preparation for rural practice. The college points to a New Zealand Medical Journal review of three decades of rural medicine research that found repeated calls for rural-specific postgraduate training.

"We know rural communities experience poorer health outcomes and greater barriers to accessing healthcare," said college president Dr Luke Bradford, adding that the burden of inequity falls hardest on rural Māori. Hauora Taiwhenua chief executive Dr Grant Davidson said doctors working at the top of their scope in rural areas need specific training, and "rural communities cannot afford to wait for the workforce gap to grow further".

College chief executive Toby Beaglehole said workforce shortages cannot be solved overnight and need sustained commitment across the health system.

Photo: Stethoscopes / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: Rural News Group