Health authorities are hoping the expansion of a regional-rural medical training programme into Taranaki could form part of a long-term solution to doctor shortages in the province.
Taranaki - and in particular south Taranaki - has long-standing problems attracting and retaining GPs. The issue peaked last year when Patea was without a GP for four months.
A crisis looms further north too, with more than a dozen sole-charge GPs nearing retirement age.
Taranaki District Health Board chief executive Rosemary Clements said it was hoped a training programme bringing in University of Auckland to experience rural practice would also influence some to return to the province.
The first batch of 18 fifth-year medical students got a taste of Taranaki life with an official pōwhiri at Hawera Hospital this morning. They will spend at least six weeks in Taranaki familiarising themselves with medical practice in a rural setting.
Auckland medical students are welcomed at Hawera Hospital for a rural medical training initiative from Taranaki DHB. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Ms Clements said the rural medical landscape was changing, and careers in the provinces would not be so onerous in the future.
"The conventional model of being a GP, of being a specialist, is actually coming to a natural end. People don't want to work the hours they used to as a rural GP," she said.
"They don't want to be around 24/7. They want to have a life as well.
"So it's about getting a model of care put together to that will work for everybody."
Rosemary Clements Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Ms Clements said the Auckland scheme piggybacked on the postgraduate Rural Hospital Medicine Training programme which had been up and running at Hawera Hospital for about four years.
"I see these fifth-year students as key. They see there's a life they can have, a lifestyle in Taranaki, and a life once they're trained in whatever they choose to do.
"They won't all come back, but if a proportion came back that would be fabulous."
University of Auckland vice chancellor Māori Jim Peters said the rural training programme had been a huge success in Northland and the Bay of Plenty, and he expected Taranaki would be no different.
"In the case of the Northland scheme which is in Kawakawa, over 20 of those past students are now back in the North in medical services or as doctors.
"So the benefit to the local community with the introduction of (to the students) of what rural life is really like and how pleasant it is and how long term it is of value is likely to be the same here."
Mr Peters said the students would benefit from seeing a wide range of medical issues in one place, during their time in Taranaki.
Jim Peters Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
"In the large hospitals there does tend to be a more specialised approach and that may not be to the students' advantage so earlier in their careers, but when they are working in the rural context they see the total range of medical incidents and the need for medical treatment."
Aucklander Maria Ji said she was looking forward to the experience.
"Actually unless you've been in these areas and you've met the people and you've worked with the people and had that kind of practical experience on the ground it is really hard to feel connected to a place," she said.
"I think this is very unparalleled in the sense of the various experiences we have as a student in terms of getting that connection and growing to love a place that you might want to work one day."
Briana Wu, from Wellington, was looking forward to the opportunity to work in a rural setting, but admitted to a little trepidation.
"I've been on holiday here a few times so I really only know the touristy things and probably most worried about the distance from friends and family, and it's a totally new environment so it's scary."
Fifth-year University of Auckland medical students Briana Wu and Maria Ji after the pōwhiri at Hawera Hospital. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Another student, Michael Hayton, was originally from Taranaki and planned to return after specialising. He said the experience would be great for his fellow students.
"A number of the people who have come here are definitely from big places - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - and they haven't been to a small place. They haven't even been to Taranaki."
"For them it's a huge opportunity to actually see what it's like to work and live here, and I think it will be really good for them."
A total of 34 medical students will work at Hawera Hospital this year with the balance of their time spent at Taranaki Base Hospital in New Plymouth.
Midlands Health Network medical director Dr Jo Scott-Jones said there were 29 GP practices in Taranaki and the equivalent of 58 fulltime GPs.
About half of those practices are considered to have heavy workloads.
Dr Scott-Jones welcomed the Taranaki initiative.
"International evidence shows a proven way to increase the numbers of doctors working in rural areas is to provide them with high quality enjoyable training experiences as undergraduates and as doctors."
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