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November 14, 2022
Māori medical numbers quarter way to target
Adam Gifford
Posted On November 14, 2022
The Medical Council says 4.6 percent of doctors identify as Māori, the highest proportion observed to date and double the 2000 level.
However, there’s still a lot of work to be done to achieve a Māori medical workforce of 16.5 percent in line with the overall population.
Council chair Curtis Walker says the latest medical workforce survey shows there are about 872 Māori doctors and 417 Pasifika doctors.
That’s a sign of the progress New Zealand’s medical schools are making at undergraduate and graduate levels, with Māori and Pasifika doctors likely to be more recently qualified.
Women will outnumber men in the workforce by 2025 based on current trends, rising from 46.6 percent in 2021, to 47.4 percent in 2022.
Dr Walker says the workforce increased by 11.1 percent between 2019 and 2022, from 16,907 doctors to 18,708.
Aotearoa is retaining more of its graduates, but 42.2 percent of doctors have gained their medical degree overseas.
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