Medical students from the University of Auckland will have the opportunity to train in Whakatane from this year with the launch of its new regional rural medical training programme in the Bay of Plenty.

For the first time, 18 fifth-year medical students from Auckland will be based at Tauranga Hospital and spend nearly three months placement training at Whakatane Hospital.

Dean of Medical and Health Sciences Professor John Fraser says the goal is for half of all Auckland medical graduates to choose a career in General Practice and at least 30 per cent to work outside urban centres.

'To achieve this, we need to partner with regional health boards, hospitals and general practices to provide high quality clinical training, so that students experience the benefits and joys of practising medicine outside big city hospitals.”

The powhiri to launch the new programme was held at Whakatane Hospital and attended by executives and staff from the Bay of Plenty Health Board, the hospital, and the university.

'I cannot stress how important our partnership is with the Bay of Plenty DHB and Whakatane Hospital – after all, these students in your care will likely be your next junior doctors and GPs,” says John.

'This is an important step in our commitment to providing quality regional and rural immersion experiences for New Zealand's future doctors.”

He says the decisions young doctors make in choosing to work in urban versus rural or choosing specialist over generalist careers are complex and are not all influenced by their education.

'One simple fact that is supported by extensive research, is that medical students who have a high quality regional experience are more likely to return there as qualified doctors.”

The government's strategy to reduce New Zealand's over reliance on overseas trained doctors involves increasing the number of domestic graduates by 50 per cent over a period of 10 years, growing the national GP training scheme and limiting the availability of specialist training places.

Medical graduate numbers are expected to grow from seven per 100,000 in 2010 to 12 per 100,000 by 2020.

'This will put New Zealand equal to or ahead of the UK, Canada and the USA,” says John. 'But as a consequence, it increases the demand for training places in hospitals and general practices across the country.”

There will be a total of 58 medical students from the university in the Bay of Plenty this year with 24 fourth-year, 18 fifth-year and 16 sixth-year students based at the University and BOP DHB Tauranga Hospital Clinical School.