Education and training

The Medical Council encourages doctors to continue ongoing medical education and training. It does this through the following activities:

• regular accreditation of New Zealand and Australian medical schools
• requiring all new doctors to work under supervision in their first 12 months
• appointing intern supervisors and setting education and training policies for doctors in the first two postgraduate years
• visiting hospitals which employ probationers to ensure a suitable teaching and learning environment is provided
• writing reports and recommendations on those hospitals visited
• recognising new vocational scopes of practice and approving vocational programmes training for registration within a vocational scope of practice in those branches.

Hospital visits 2008

The above table lists the hospital visits that are scheduled to take place in 2008 along with their expected duration and the approximate dates they will occur.  Please note that these dates are provisional only and will be confirmed with each District Health Board (DHB) closer to the time.
 

Hospital Accreditation

One of Council’s functions is to ensure that interns (including NZREX graduates) receive appropriate education, training and supervision.  Council does this by appointing nominated supervisors for the interns and by visiting the hospital, usually every three years.

Focus of a Hospital visit

The primary focus of a hospital visit is the educational experience for interns.  For this group, Council supports an apprenticeship model where the intern learns to be a doctor by managing patients on the ward as an integral part of the clinical team.

Below is a list of hospitals who have been accredited by the Council for the provision of intern runs.  From 2008 onward the Section nine summary of the Council visit team report, which includes the strengths and areas for improvement in a hospital, will be available for public viewing.  In the meantime, if you would like more information about this Council process, please contact Council’s Professional Standards Adviser.