DOCTORS AND DENTISTS

Waipa Post, Volume 48, Issue 3471, 26 May 1934, Page 2

DOCTORS AND DENTISTS

JEWISH DISPERSION FROM GERMANY CONCERN IN NEW ZEALAND The Nazi onslaught on the Jewish professional men in Germany led to their wholesale dispersion into other countries, and this threatens to lead to overcrowding of already over-full professions. New Zealand has not so far experienced any of the repercussions of Hitler’s policy in this respect, but in the medical and dental professions concern is being felt for the future, as it is understood that many Jewish doctors and dentists who formerly practised in Germany will endeavour to find new homes in the Dominions. They have to pass certain, examinations in order to get on the British dental and medical registers, and registration will then entitle them, under the reciprocal arrangements in existence between Britain and the Dominion, to become registered in New Zealand. There are two hundred enrolled at the University of Durham with the object of qualifying for British registration. Though there has been no necessity to deal officially with this question in New Zealand, inquiries show that the threat of overcrowding the dental and medical professions has been brought to the notice of the Department of Health. New Zealand, with the exception of the United States, already has more medical men in .proportion to its population than any other country, while the dental profession is also considered to be at “saturation point.” The number of students who complete the dental course at Otago University is 15 or 16, which is considered to be more than sufficient to replace the annual wastage in the profession, and provide for the needs of a growing .population. If the Government has to face up to this additional problem of protecting two professions manned by New Zealanders and already oversupplied, it has the means of regulatmg the position, because the feared invasion is of aliens, who /before commencing their journey to New Zealand, must obtain the written permission of the Minister of Customs to land in the Dominion if they intend permanently residing here. The Immigation Restriction Act of 1931 gave the Minister of Customs very wide control over immigration, for by Order in Council it would .be possible to make regulations prohibiting the landing in New Zealand “of persons of any specified nationality or race, or of any ’specified class or occupation, or limiting the number of any such persons that may land in New Zealand during any specified period.”