One Doctor Per 1000 Of N.Z's Population

Northern Advocate, 13 January 1948, Page 4

One Doctor Per 1000 Of N.Z's Population

WELLINGTON, Tue. (Sp.).—Probably no country in the world is better supplied with doctors than New Zealand, and the long lists of Gazette advertisements indicating a desire to be included in the New Zealand register indicates that the numbers are growing.

An English physician who recently consulted the High Commissioner’s office regarding the possibility of practising in the Dominion was informed that there was a long waiting list, and an army doctor who arrived in Wellington this week said he was going to have a looK round to see if ne could enter practice. His main purpose is to give a broader life for his three young children, but if the family misses the Old Country life he will regard his venture to New Zealand t as simply an expensive holiday. NOT SATURATION POINT Until the medical service under social security was expanded, the general impression was that New Zealand had become over-supplied with doctors, but an enormous increase in the number of consultations, and the rise in hospital population suggests that possibly saturation point in doctors has not actually been reached, though the number of those in active practice slightly exceeds one per 1000 of the Dominion’s population. Thera are 1650 doctors holding practising certificates, and probably an additional 100 in the service of the state, in mental hospitals or as officers of the Department of Health. The influx of doctors from Britain and India has been very marked since the end of the war.

Last year over 70 practitioner’s from overseas were added to the New Zealand register, and 82 New Zealanders educated at the Otago Medical School gained their practising qualification, thus adding 152 doctors to the register in one year.