Wednesday, 13 March 2024 12:25

Royal College of GPs celebrates 10 new rural fellows

Written by  Staff Reporters
DRHM chair Dr Andrew Morgan. DRHM chair Dr Andrew Morgan.

The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners is celebrating the 10 newest specialist rural hospital doctors who were awarded the Fellowship of the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine (DRHM) over the course of 2023.

This is the largest cohort to receive the fellowship in a year since the College started offering the training programme.

The College is the post-graduate training organization for doctors wanting to specialise in general practice, rural hospital medicine, or both.

Dr Andrew Morgan, chair of DRHM, says that having another 10 rural hospital medicine Fellows working across New Zealand will have a real impact on the rural workforce and the communities they serve.

“Working rurally is different to working in a metropolitan or urban hospital setting,” Morgan says. “We deliver hospital level care, with some primary care, in isolated settings and often without easy access to other resources or support.”

“However, we do share commonalities with our GP peers, primarily because we both work in very generalist specialties and many of our rural hospital medicine registrars also complete the general practice training programme,” he says.

College president Dr Samantha Murton says that while the ethos of specialist GPs and rural hospital doctors is the same – to provide comprehensive, complex care to patients and improve health outcomes for their communities – there are differences in training requirements and the ways the two different type of doctor work once they become specialists.

“I’m delighted that we’ve got 10 new, passionate rural hospital doctors who’ll be able to get stuck into some incredibly interesting, rewarding and challenging work in some of the most beautiful parts of Aotearoa, while continuing their ongoing learning from those who’ve been working rurally for many years,” Murton says.

“It’s great to see the numbers increasing as Rural Hospital Medicine is one of the key parts of the College’s strategy to make a sizeable impact as we work towards a more equitable and accessible healthcare system,” she says.

“I look forward to meeting our newest Rural Hospital Medicine Fellows and saying congratulations when they cross the stage at our Fellowship and Awards ceremony in July.”

More like this

Staunch rural health advocate recognised

Rural health advocate Dr Jeremy Webber was awarded a Distinguished Fellowship of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners at the recent GP22 conference in Christchurch.

No panacea for rural health

An increase in the number of resident visas granted to health workers may not be enough to fill the gap in the rural sector.

Featured

AgriSIMA 2026 Paris machinery show cancelled

With the current situation in the European farm machinery market being described as difficult at best, it’s perhaps no surprise that the upcoming AgriSIMA 2026 agricultural machinery exhibition, scheduled for February 2026 at Paris-Nord Villepinte, has been cancelled.

NZ tractor sales show signs of recovery – TAMA

As we move into the 2025/26 growing season, the Tractor and Machinery Association (TAMA) reports that the third quarter results for the year to date is showing that the stagnated tractor market of the last 18 months is showing signs of recovery.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Picking winners?

OPINION: Every time politicians come up with an investment scheme where they're going to have a crack at 'picking winners'…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter