Inspiring the Future of Rural Health

The Rural Health Careers Promotion Programme is inspiring the next generation of health professionals, whether they are just beginning tertiary study and have not considered medicine, or if they are medical students who had not considered practicing rurally.

The Rural Health Careers Promotion Programme’s final Rural School Visits for 2022 will take place over multiple regions this November, visiting both schools and medical practices to foster connections with rural communities.

28 tertiary students will embark on tours throughout Northland, Waikato, and Taranaki regions, where they will engage with secondary students from a range of rural schools through interactive presentations, demonstrations, and workshops. From November 14-18, two groups will travel to rural schools throughout upper and lower Northland, while two further groups will meet with rural students in Waikato and Taranaki November 21-25.

In between school presentations, the volunteers will also visit rural medical practices where they will see and experience first-hand the lifestyle and value of rural medicine, as well as engaging with rural Health Professionals. Five practices are booked for visits with more to come.

The programme is integral to our efforts to address the chronic health workforce shortages throughout New Zealand, which are being felt acutely in rural areas.

The students have been drawn from tertiary institutions all over the country and from a variety of different disciplines including optometry, paramedicine, medicine, speech therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, nursing, psychology, and more.

The rural health careers promotion programme aim is to inspire the next generation of health professionals, encouraging graduating high school students to consider furthering their studies in health or encouraging medical students to get immersed in rural communities.

Through the Rural Health Careers Promotion Programme, our goal is to ensure that we have an enthusiastic, resilient, and robust rural health workforce in the future.