Rural Medical Workforce Distribution

Only 4% of New Zealand-trained graduates became rural doctors despite 19% of the national population living rurally, indicating ongoing maldistribution among early-career doctors. Rural doctors were substantially more likely than urban doctors to be in vocational training or to have completed it (95% vs 74%). Rural communities face an inverse care pattern of higher healthcare need but lower access compared with urban communities. International medical graduates, who account for roughly 40% of New Zealand's total medical workforce, were excluded from this study because they are not captured in the MSOD database. Rural populations in New Zealand experience poorer health outcomes than urban populations, with inequities especially pronounced for Indigenous rural populations.