New Zealand Launches Primary Care Pathway for Graduate Doctors

Expressions of interest open today for graduate doctors keen to gain hands-on experience in general practice and other community-based settings across New Zealand, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

Primary care is the cornerstone of our health system, but New Zealand has a shortage of family doctors, who play a vital role in keeping people well and out of emergency departments, Mr Brown says.

Providing opportunities for graduate doctors to receive clinical supervision in a primary care environment is a key part of our plan to increase GP numbers.

Funded by the Government in Budget 2025 as part of the Primary Care Tactical Action Plan, the primary care pathway allocates $23.3 million over four years to introduce a funded pathway to registration for New Zealand-trained graduate doctors.

This funding will support up to 50 graduate doctors each year, with a greater proportion of their time spent in primary care providers rather than hospitals – giving doctors meaningful experience working in communities.

The pathway includes general practice and may also involve urgent care and rural hospitals. These extended placements are designed to build clinical breadth, strengthen system-wide understanding, and provide meaningful experience of the unique challenges and rewards of community-based care.

Talented graduate doctors with an interest in primary care will be given an extended opportunity to pursue that interest, working in communities right across the country.

Our goal is to give early-career doctors a real taste of community medicine while encouraging more to consider primary care as a long-term career. A stronger health workforce that we can retain is critical to ensuring all New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare.

We want everyone to be able to see a GP when they need one, regardless of where they live. This pathway is a meaningful step toward that goal.