New Zealand’s vocational Rural Hospital Medicine training program: the first ten years

Aims: The Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme (RHMTP) was established in 2008 to develop NZ’s rural hospital medical workforce. This study evaluates the RHMTP’s first ten- year outcomes. Methods: A mixed-methods descriptive study. Database interrogation of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners records; University of Otago’s e-Vision; Medical Council of NZ register of doctors. A survey of trainees who had graduated or withdrawn. Survey questions included: current scope and place of employment; undergraduate rural experience; and trainee experiences. Results From 2009-2018, 98 doctors entered the RHMTP: 29 graduated, 20 withdrew and 49 are active registrars. Of the graduates, more than half (17/29) also completed GP training. Overall survey response rate: 80% (39/49), graduate response rate 97% (28/29). Of currently practicing graduates 92% (24/26) are working in rural NZ, most (22/24) in rural hospitals. Trainees value the RHMTP’s flexibility and breadth of clinical exposure. Main challenges relate to a lack of alignment of training requirements and funding. Conclusions. In its first decade the RHMTP has been successful in generating a rural hospital workforce and the programme is steadily growing. Attention to existing barriers is needed to ensure the RHMTP can reach its potential to benefit all of NZs rural communities.Peer Reviewe