New Zealand is an economically developed, relatively affluent country with a democratic parliamentary system of government. It is composed of two main islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean about lo00 miles south-east of Australia and is similar in size to the British Isles. The population is approximately 3.3 million, of which 73 per cent is located on the North Island. The majority of the population is of English or Scottish ancestry. About 9 per cent of the population is Maori (the original settlers from Polynesia) and about 3 per cent are Pacific Island Polynesians.
In the early 1940s New Zealand was world-renowned for its advanced social welfare policies. At that time social planners envisaged a universally available, publicly financed health care system with no direct charge to the patient, but what emerged is a system where the government finances the complete cost of public hospital care, and subsidizes private hospitals and primary care services.
MEDICAL PRACTICE
In 1980 there were nearly 4900 physicians in New Zealand-one for every 645 persons. This is less than Australia which had one physician for every 559 persons and less than the US which had one for every 524. Even so, there was concern that an oversupply of physicians was developing, resulting in a tightening of the controls on medical immigration and a reduction in the number of medical students accepted for training. However, these measures did not remedy the situation entirely. The physician's education typically begins following high school graduation with a 6-year medical school curriculum composed of training in the basic medical sciences and clinical experience culminating with the MB,ChB degree After completing medical school, a year of hospital board service is required before the graduate is placed on the general register and is allowed to practise independently. Following this pre-registration year, most doctors take further general training as house surgeons and registrars in hospitals or in selected private practices for a period of from 2 to 6 years to prepare further for general or specialty practice. Advanced specialist training for at least 5 years is required before applying to have one's name placed on the Medical Council's specialist register. The type of training and experience required for different specialties is determined by the various royal colleges.
Nearly all the doctors in New Zealand are in private practice or hold salaried appointments in public hospitals. Specialists sometimes combine a public hospital appointment with a private practice-either in their own offices or in private hospitals. Typically specialists only see patients who are referred to them by general practitioners and their charges are subsidized by the government.