Neil Quigley: Waikato University Vice Chancellor on the new medical school, rural health and GPs

There’s optimism the new medical school will ensure a future influx of GP specialists.  

Waikato University's newly announced medical school will begin construction this year, opening the doors to 120 trainees in 2028.  

It will focus on primary and rural care.  

Vice Chancellor Neil Quigley told Mike Hosking students could choose not to specialise in rural health or become a GP, but there are ways of addressing this.  

He says Australian institutions use selection mechanisms which, if implemented, create a markedly different workforce. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the long away to Wacata Medical School is go.
The government's in for a bit over eighty million. One
hundred and fifty million comes from the university and donors.
The doors open in twenty eight with an initial role
of one hundred and twenty students and focus on GP training.
Neil Quigley is the University of Wacat has Vice Chancellor
and is with us. Very good morning, Good morning, Mike's
been a journey.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
It has been a journey. Yes, you're right.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
How much of this is about regional prestige for your organization?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh, we are just interested in delivering for New Zealand
and we've got involved in this project primarily because of
the observation that we've fallen behind what's happening in other countries,
particularly Australia, in terms of medical education. So this is
our opportunity to help New Zealand get into the twenty

(00:46):
first century.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
One hundred and twenty with a view to more or
one hundred and twenty is it?

Speaker 2 (00:52):
No, one hundred and twenty is a starting point, but
obviously we need to build the program, make sure we've
got all the clinical placements in place before we look
to go beyond one hundred and twenty, but I would
hope after a few years we would be able to
build up.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
How do you tell people to be a GP, because
you can't, really can you.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
No, you can't. People have tried bonding schemes in other
places and things like that, but they're really difficult to
make work practically and legally. What you have to do
is select people for the commitment that they show to
being in general practice and in primary care. And it's

(01:30):
possible to design your selection mechanisms so that you identify
those characteristics in people rather than just well because they
will come from places where there are shortages of doctors
and where they're committed to going back to those places

(01:51):
to practice, and will select them based on their demonstrated
involvement with the community rather than just their academic grades.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
That's guesswork. Look, I'm all for this, congratulations, I think
it's going to be ahead all that sort of stuff.
But what I know from medical school is you can't
force people to do what they don't do. You can't
force them to go to the country, and you can't
force them to be a GP. They will do what
they do in anything. Any other argument is fencible isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Well, Mike, what you have to do is look at
the record of our partners that we're going to be
working with in Australia, So they get fifty or sixty
percent of their graduates going into general practice, whereas at
the moment here in New Zealand it's only fifteen or
twenty percent from Aukland or Otago. So the evidence from
Australia says that implementing the selection mechanisms that our partner

(02:44):
institutions over there use, you do get a markedly different
workforce outcome.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, were you surprised at yesterday's reaction in the Prime
Minister's press conference and the conspiracy theory about your so
called conflict of intr I mean, for a good news story,
there was a lot of weird behavior yesterday. I thought.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I was a little surprised that people weren't interested in
engaging with the real issues about the need to improve
medical education in New Zealand and the way in which
we can shorten the pathway with a four year graduate
entry program to get more doctors through more quickly.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
Yeah exactly, yes, yes, yeah, I was very surprised. It
was me too. Well, then, Neil appreciate it, and Neil Quickley,
wh's a University of Waikato vice chancellor. It's everything that's
wrong with this country on a good news day. This's
not about politics on a good news day, and irrefusably
good news day where something was actually going to happen.

(03:42):
All we could do was find reasons to bitch in

Speaker 2 (03:44):
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