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Profiles of the finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy. PAGE 24
Jeep Trailhawk gets down and dirty. PAGE 33
Genetic breakthrough for sheep milk. PAGE 15
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS APRIL 4, 2017: ISSUE 627
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Rural doctor stoush PAM TIPA pamelat@ruralnews.co.nz
A PROPOSAL for a National School of Rural Health (NSRH) by the universities of Auckland and Otago is too little, too late: training of rural doctors needs a totally new approach. That’s the opinion of Waikato District Health Board (WDHB) chief executive Dr Nigel Murray, who was taken by surprise by the Auckland-Otago proposal. Waikato announced its own plans last year to set up Waikato Graduate Entry Medical School for training rural doctors. The joint proposal by the WDHB and Waikato University is under government consideration. It recently was boosted by a $5 million donation by philanthropist Sir Owen Glenn. Auckland and Otago universities both have medical schools – the only ones in New Zealand -- and they now propose the NSRH. They are working with the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network (NZRGPN). Both proposals were to be discussed last Friday at the NZRGPN’s National Rural Health Conference in Wellington. NZRGPN chairperson Sharon Hansen says the need has never been greater for a well-trained primary health care workforce. Rural people are less able than urban people to obtain the services of general practitioners, so the Auckland-Otago proposal is a timely move, she says. “This proposal is a targeted approach to solving looming issues
of workforce and service delivery in rural NZ. It’s also to get health equity for rural communities and health outcomes for rural people on par with their urban counterparts.” The network is planning to include a rural component in the training of all health profession students. This would entail a ‘dispersed inter-professional faculty’ with its own leadership, at up to 20 sites in rural NZ. But Waikato’s Dr Murray told Rural News it is much too little, too late.
“This has been a growing issue for several decades. They have been funded to try to shore up this problem…. We still see only 15-17% of graduates going into primary care (general practice) and even fewer going into general practice in rural communities. “Every medical school should be trying to train doctors for the needs of their community. Their sudden wakeup to this is a bit concerning. But congratulations to them for starting to think about it.”
But their proposal would not work for rural communities, Murray says. It would not get the kind of uptake and community engagement the proposed Waikato rural medical school would. He says Auckland and Otago should be training GPs for the growing urban needs. Research and international experience shows that for rural communities you need a new, unique academic culture that’s embedded in TO PAGE 3
FASTER INTERNET SPEED RURAL INTERNET suppliers have improved their time-of-day (TOD) performance over the last 12 months, now matching ADSL and VDSL in urban areas. The internet speed monitoring company TrueNet says time-ofday variances on fixed wireless are worse than ADSL, but the actual speeds overall are faster. TrueNet says TOD is a critical performance criterion and ISPs serving the rural sector have responded by matching standard connections with Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI) funded connections at 95% or better. The company says fixed wireless is now a viable and successful technology in rural regions and places between ADSL and VDSL in performance. “As fixed wireless gains in popularity it’s expected to suffer from some congestion as demand grows, so it’s good to see that the rural wireless speed has settled around 78% of best hour speed.”
Mud, glorious mud! Several days of wet weather for Canterbury gave way to persistent overcast skies, but made for a lot of mud underfoot on the first day of the 2017 South Island Agricultural Field Days at Kirwee. Rodney Hadfield, chair of the organising committee, was pleased with the first day turnout for the event – only the second time at its new Kirwee site – despite a lot of mud underfoot. “Sometimes the weather helps. Farmers can’t do anything at home because it’s wet, so they come to the field days,” he says. PHOTO: RURAL NEWS GROUP.
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