Medical students want jobs abroad

Most medical students plan to leave New Zealand within three years of graduating, new research shows.

A study published in The New Zealand Medical Journal said student debt was a major factor in medical graduates heading overseas to work.

Fifty-two per cent of students planned to leave the country within two or three years of graduation, and nearly a quarter planned to leave for longer than five years.

Their average student debt was $76,000, and money was the main reason for choosing to work overseas or to take short-term locum jobs, the study said.

The authors said it was "alarming" that only a quarter of students thought they would be valued by hospital management or the government.

This had significant implications because those were more likely to opt for low-commitment, high-paid locum jobs rather than permanent positions.

New Zealand Medical Students' Association president Elizabeth Carr said it was good for junior doctors to get overseas experience. Most intended to return, but circumstances could change, she said.

Savings from one year working in Australia were equal to about two in New Zealand.

"Any way of reducing the student loan amount – possibly for the Government to contribute more to medical education or debt relief after graduation – would make a difference," Carr said.

Fifth-year Christchurch medical student James Tan said he would graduate with a loan of about $60,000. He planned to work in New Zealand in the long term, but would move overseas soon after graduating.

"It's part of the whole experience to work somewhere for two years to get a bit more experience and see the world a little bit," Tan said.

Graduates working overseas must still make student loan payments, and they accrue interest on their loans, while graduates working in New Zealand have their interest written off.

- © Fairfax NZ News