MEDICAL MEN.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 9, 9 December 1936, Page 8

MEDICAL MEN.

DENIAL OF SHORTAGE. QUESTION OF DISTRIBUTION. Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, Dec. 9. “It is freely stated that there is a shortage of medical men in New Zealand,” stated Sir Lindo Ferguson to the University Council yesterday. “The question arises as to whether the annual increment to the register suffices. It is a fact that register members have increased much more rapidly than the population served. In 1918 there were 969 registered with a population of 1,171,000; in 1936 there were 1410 for a population of 1,400,000. “The question is not of a shortage of doctors, but their distribution. The position as far as the school is concerned is that it is educating a larger number of graduates than the community can find work for, and an increasing number, after holding a resident position, are seeking outlets beyond the Dominion. Of the 33 graduating in 1933 there are 27 in London for post-graduate experiences, most of them holding useful appointments. There is no certainty as to how many will return.” Sir Lindo Ferguson added that the recent wage and hour legislation was likely to play an important part in shaping the graduates’ views. On their return they would naturally think that if a clerk at the age of 26 must receive £6 10s for 40 hours, their nine years’ work, involving an outlay of £ISOO, should command something better than a colliery practice of £7OO, with considerable professional expenses and hours of work. The position with regard to these unattractive practices would be the same if the school graduated 100 men annually.