October 20, 2020
New Maori GP’S to help turn around Maori health stats
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners graduation today of seven new Māori GPs is cause for celebration but still not enough.
College president Dr Samantha Murton says the seven make up just 3.6 percent of the total pool of 191 new GPs, compared with Māori being 16.5 percent of New Zealand’s population.
She says training and professional development programmes for all GPs to ensure they have the capacity and capability to improve Māori health is one way to address health inequities, but there also needs to be a big increase in the number of Māori choosing medicine and general practice as a career.
The seven new Māori GPs are:
Dr Claire Coddington (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa), Auckland
Dr Kirsty Moore, (Ngāi Tahu), Nelson-Marlborough
Dr Susan Francis (Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngā Puhi), Otago
Dr Georgie Richmond (Te Ātiawa), Tairāwhiti
Dr Kathleen Going (Ngāpuhi), Waikato
Dr Daniel McIntosh (Te Ātiawa)
Dr Martin Mikaere (Ngāti Pūkenga ki Manaia), Waikato
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