Photo: Otago Daily TimesIf the proposed new rural health training school goes ahead, training hubs for doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health practitioners could be introduced into 10 rural communities throughout the country. Many rural medical providers are finding it increasingly difficult to attract medical professionals, including general practitioners, midwives and pharmacists, to rural areas because of the isolation, lack of services, connectivity and job opportunities for partners. ''We are talking about establishing 10 rural training hubs within 10 rural communities, but we are not prepared to say where the hubs will be until we have got security of funding for this.'' The existing rural medical training programmes, such as Otago University's Rural Medical Immersion Programme, would continue. NZ Rural General Practice Network chief executive Dalton Kelly said, in a press release, that a nationally focused, multidisciplinary approach to training rural health professionals was a sensible way to address the longer term health needs of rural communities.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 23, 2017 06:31 UTC