Student Loan and Allowance limits jeopardise diversity

Student Loan and Allowance limits jeopardise diversity of New Zealand’s medical workforce

The New Zealand Medical Students’ Association (NZMSA) strongly urges the government to re-introduce exemptions to the Student Loan and Allowance limits for medical students to ensure fair access to the medical degree, and to support a more representative and higher quality medical workforce for all New Zealanders.

NZMSA president Michael Chen-Xu says a recent review of intakes to health professional programmes at the University of Otago showed a worrying lack of diversity among ethnic groups and along the socioeconomic gradient.

“A medical workforce that better mirrors the society it will later serve will mean our future doctors will be more in-tune with the needs of their communities and more likely to want to stay and work here in New Zealand,” says Mr Chen-Xu.

A recent study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal reported that almost half of students accepted into health professional programmes at the University of Otago came from the wealthiest thirty percent of households, with Māori and Pacific Island background students being significantly underrepresented [1].

Mr Chen-Xu says that these findings are particularly disturbing in light of the recent changes to Student Loans and Student Allowances made by the government, most recently in Budget 2012/13.

“We have grave concerns that the seven-year cap on access to Student Loans and the recently imposed 200-week limit on access to Student Allowances will exacerbate the current inequalities in access to the health professional degrees, jeopardising the quality of New Zealand’s future health workforce,” says Mr Chen-Xu.

Approximately twenty-five percent of students enter medicine after finishing a three-year or greater degree (such as an honours, masters or doctorate) and therefore have to do a minimum of eight years of study to complete the medical degree. Some students even do an extra research year, such as a BMedSc(Hons), during the course of their medical degree.

Mr Chen-Xu agrees with Minister Joyce’s recent comments on ONE News that ‘… The worst case scenario is there might be some borrowing outside of the student loan scheme in the last year of their study.’

“Medical students being forced to borrow outside the loan scheme to fund the last year of their medical degree is indeed a ‘worst case scenario’, as debt is the single biggest driver of medical graduates away from New Zealand, and we have a significant doctor shortage,” says Mr Chen-Xu.

“Not only will these limits on access to Student Loans and Allowances make it harder for students from different backgrounds to study medicine, they will also drive medical graduates overseas.”

“Accordingly, the limits have the potential to seriously jeopardise the diversity, the quality and the sustainability of New Zealand’s future medical workforce, which is of great concern.”

NZMSA strongly urges that the government remove the recently imposed limits on access to Student Loans and Allowances for medical students in order to ensure a more representative and higher quality health workforce for the benefit of all New Zealanders, in the government’s upcoming review of both schemes.

ENDS

1. Crampton, P., N. Weaver, and A. Howard, Holding a mirror to society? The sociodemographic characteristics of the University of Otago's health professional students. N Z Med J, 2012. 125(1361): p. 12-28.

© Scoop Media