"But the issue would be if we've all got a problem finding good quality placements having another medical school doesn't solve that." He did not doubt Otago would form good relationships with a new medical school if it was set up at Waikato. What's the net gain for the country on that?" "The thing that would worry us is if suddenly some of our rural and regional placements were not available to us anymore because they were taken by another party. Prof Wilkinson said Otago also offered post-graduate training for doctors and placed them in regional and rural roles. National's health policy regarding training more doctors has committed to placing them in regional jobs. That would be the issue we would have to work through." "Adding a new player into the field doesn't magically increase those placements. Otago medical school enjoys a good working working relationship with its Auckland counterpart, including making the best use of placements across the entire country, he said. "So I'm hoping they will be really supportive as well." theoretically it's a win-win for them, they give us good experiences and then if they give our students good experiences they know they get those people back as doctors."įor those who do some of their medical training in rural areas, it was four times more likely they would return once fully qualified, Prof Wilkinson said. "We've got good relationships there but that would be the bit we would need to work on to increase our capacity. The Otago medical school does this by operating campuses in Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington and then sending students out to regional and rural settings throughout the lower North Island and all of the South Island. "Not just the right experiences but also the right places - so that's something we've been doing for many years." There were two limiting factors - the cap on the number of trainees which was about to be lifted by both main parties, and clinical placements which involved students having workplace experiences for roughly half their degree. Professor Wilkinson said that the school had already been planning on increasing the number of trainees. National announced plans to set up a third medical school last month, saying it would add another 50 placements in Otago and Auckland from 2025. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said on Wednesday if re-elected the party would increase placements at Otago and Auckland medical schools by a further 95 every year, beginning in 2024 and ending in 2027. He is also questioning National's plan for a third medical school at the University of Waikato, saying it might mean competition for Otago to find suitable placements while trainees are working towards becoming qualified. He said capacity would have to be increased so the trainee doctors continue to receive appropriate training in the right places. The biggest worry about plans to train more doctors is finding quality clinical placements for them while they are studying, a medical school professor says.Īcting dean of Otago Medical School Professor Tim Wilkinson told Morning Report for almost half their degree, students are not actually training at the medical schools, but are based in a professional setting.
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