New Zealand Doctor Online - Medical News for GPs

26 NOVEMBER 2009

GP workforce crisis continues

DAILY NEWS: NZMA figures suggest fewer young doctors are heading overseas

An NZMA report on GP workforce suggests fewer medical students are leaving after graduating, although it is too early to draw firm conclusions.

In the past 10 years, 25 per cent or more of medical graduates have left the country within three years of graduating. However, for graduates from 2003 and 2004, that figure has dropped to 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively.

While it is too early to know whether that is a trend, the NZMA postulates student debt has contributed to newly graduated doctors’ decisions to exit.

The greater number of students staying in the country may be because the Government, in 2006, removed interest from loans of students residing in New Zealand.

Vocational registration increasing

Overall, the number of GP vocational registrations has tended to increase slowly.

“The decision in 2006 to increase the number of GP vocational training posts from 54 to 69 in 2007 and 104 in 2008 is welcome news although it is still insufficient to combat gradually rising demand coupled with an ageing general practitioner population,” the report says.

Number of GPs increasing, but not enough

In the NZMA’s last, 2002, report, the overall number of GPs had been decreasing from a peak of 3159 in 1998 to 2917 in 2002.

Since then, the number has increased to 3195 in 2007.

There has been a 9.5 per cent increase in GP numbers in the past five years. However, other figures and tables in the rest of the report put this in context, showing the increase is not keeping up with population increases. In addition, GPs are working fewer hours.

“Thus while in 2007, GP numbers had increased to 72 FTEs per 100,000 population, this is still well below the 2001 level when there were 83 FTEs per 100,000 population.

“This figure is also well below those given for other OECD countries, although we [the NZMA] add the caveat here that the OECD figures are based on 2004 data.”

The analysis suggests the GP workforce crisis continues, the report concludes.

However, the NZMA applauds the recent work of the Medical Training Board and subsequent RMO and SMO commissions, which offer hope the crisis can be ended.

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