increase font size
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.”
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has opened applications for doctors wanting to specialise in general practice and/or rural hospital medicine, starting in January 2025.
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has opened applications for doctors wanting to specialise in general practice (GPEP) and/or rural hospital medicine (RHM), starting in January 2025.
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.
An increase in the number of resident visas granted to health workers may not be enough to fill the gap in the rural sector.
The 2025 game bird season is underway with Hawke’s Bay and Southland reporting the ideal weather conditions for hunters – rain and wind.
A group of meat processing companies, directors and managers have been fined a total of $1.6 million for deliberately and illegally altering exported tallow for profit.
New Zealand’s top cheeses for 2025 have been announced and family-owned, Oamaru-based Whitestone Cheese is the big winner.
Waikato farmer, and Owl Farm demonstration manager, Jo Sheridan is the 2025 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
New Zealand’s special agricultural trade envoy Hamish Marr believes the outlook for the dairy sector remains strong.
Everyone from experienced veterinarians and young professionals to the Wormwise programme and outstanding clinics have been recognised in this year’s New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe (NZVA) awards.
OPINION: The appendage swinging contest between the US and China continues, with China hitting back with a new rate of…
OPINION: The irony of President Trump’s tariff obsession is that the worst damage may be done to his own people.
