New Zealand Medical Association

Doctors-in-Training Council (DITC)

The NZMA's Doctors-in-Training Council represents the interests of NZMA trainee intern, RMO and medical student members.

DITC members are:
Brandon Adams (Chair), Dylan Mordaunt, Cindy Towns, Jonathan Foo, Aaron Withers, Maria Poynter, Jesse Gale, Will Perry (President, NZMSA), Pete Foley (Chair, NZMA, ex officio), Cameron McIver (NZMA CEO, ex officio).

The DITC was established in 2002 to provide support and representation to NZMA members who are the future of the medical profession. The DITC advises the NZMA Board of issues of relevance to doctors-in-training (DIT), contributes to NZMA responses to government policy proposals, and develops its own policy proposals. It participates in advocacy and representation on DIT issues. The DITC also provides a forum for constructive collaboration with non-RMO doctor groups.

The DITC meets four times a year, plus is represented at the twice yearly NZMA Council. The Chair sits on the NZMA Board. The DITC chair is ex officio on the NZMSA executive. The DITC is also an invited observer to the Australian Medical Association Council of Doctors-in-Training.

What's new?

NZMA Summer Studentship
Application form

A newsletter, Tinnitus, is emailed to members:

Tinnitus - April 09
Tinnitus - December 08
Tinnitus - August 08
Tinnitus - June 07
Tinnitus - April 07
Tinnitus - October 06
Tinnitus - May 06
Tinnitus - March 06

ACE -- Frequently asked questions

Articles from Medspeak:
Chocolates Anyone? (Medical workforce article, by DITC Chair Andrew Old, April 2007)
Finding the BEAST within -- A look into NZ BSTs' Expectations and Attitudes to Surgical Training (By Yezdi Mistry, October 2006)

Find out more about the NZMA Leadership Fund

Beyond the Med School Gates - Life in the Real World: Presentations

If you have any comments or feedback, please email us at: ditc@nzma.org.nz

Useful links:

Medical Schools Admission Policy (Adopted by the NZMA Board, 13 June 2006, on advice of the DITC)

Scrubs website for RMOs -- www.scrubs.co.nz

Details of training programmes are available from Medical Colleges:

New Zealand Medical Journal articles of interest to doctors-in-training, include:

(Note: login and password required for accessing NZMJ articles less than six months old)

Student debt amongst junior doctors in New Zealand; part 1: quantity, distribution, and psychosocial impact.
James Moore, Jesse Gale, Kevin Dew, Gabrielle Davie
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [PDF]

Student debt amongst junior doctors in New Zealand; part 2: effects on intentions and workforce
James Moore, Jesse Gale, Kevin Dew, Don Simmers
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [PDF]

House dust mite allergen levels in University student accommodation in Dunedin
WM McRae, EM Flannery, JO Cowan, CR McLachlan, GP Herbison, RW Siebers, J Crane, CS Wong
02-Jul-2002 - Vol 115 No 1157
[full text] [PDF]

Simulation-based training to improve acute care skills in medical undergraduates
Jennifer Weller, Brian Robinson, Peter Larsen, Catherine Caldwell
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [PDF]

The new rural health curriculum at Dunedin School of Medicine: how has it influenced the attitudes of medical students to a career in rural general practice?
Martyn Williamson, Andrew Gormley, Janne Bills, Pat Farry
08-Aug-2003 - Vol 116 No 1179
[full text] [PDF]

Surgical inclination in senior medical students from the University of Auckland: results of the 2005 Senior Students Survey
Phillip Insull, Ritwik Kejriwal, Anand Segar, Phil Blyth
19-May-2006 - Vol 119 No 1234
[full text] [PDF]

For better or worse: role models for New Zealand house officers
Rosemary Wyber, Tony Egan
04-May-2007 - Vol 120 No 1253
[full text] [PDF]

Radiology knowledge in new medical graduates in New Zealand
Rathan Subramaniam, Tim Hall, Tania Chou, Dale Sheehan
28-Oct-2005 - Vol 118 No 1224
[full text] [PDF]

Career choices of New Zealand junior doctors
Andrea Zarkovic, Stephen Child, Gill Naden
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [PDF]

Parental backgrounds of Otago medical students
Christopher Heath, Christan Stoddart, Hadrian Green
08-Nov-2002 - Vol 115 No 1165
[full text] [PDF]

Texting tenosynovitis
Emma F Storr, Fleur O de Vere Beavis, Mark D Stringer
14-Dec-2007 - Vol 120 No 1267
[full text] [PDF]

Aligning medical education with the healthcare needs of the population
Pat Farry, Martyn Williamson
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [PDF]

Mentoring resident doctors
Allen Fraser
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [PDF]

General practice rotations for post graduate year 1 and 2 house officers—how feasible?
Dale Sheehan, John H Thwaites, Irene Byrne
26-Oct-2007 - Vol 120 No 1264
[full text] [PDF]

Analysis of the Advanced Choice of Employment (ACE) scheme for facilitation of first-year house officer appointments in New Zealand
Richard Pole, Gregory O’Grady, Brandon Adams
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [PDF]

International medical graduates' training needs: perceptions of New Zealand hospital staff
Seshasayee Narasimhan, Anil Ranchord, Mark Weatherall
23-Jun-2006 - Vol 119 No 1236
[full text] [PDF]

Passing the buck: clinical handovers at a tertiary hospital
Lloyd McCann, Karina McHardy, Stephen Child
26-Oct-2007 - Vol 120 No 1264
[full text] [PDF]

Update on a pandemic: junior doctor debt in New Zealand
Richard Pole
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [PDF]

The skills of our New Zealand junior doctors - what are these skills and how do they get them?
Mike Ardagh
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [PDF]

Appropriate use of pagers in a New Zealand tertiary hospital
Rajesh Patel, Keryn Reilly, Andrew Old, Gill Naden, Stephen Child
31-Mar-2006 - Vol 119 No 1231
[full text] [abstract] [PDF]

Frequency of calls to "on-call" house officer pagers at Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand
Tin Chiu, Andrew Old, Gill Naden, Stephen Child
31-Mar-2006 - Vol 119 No 1231
[full text] [abstract] [PDF]

Procedural skills of first-year postgraduate doctors at Auckland District Health Board, New Zealand
Andrew Old, Gill Naden, Stephen Child
17-Feb-2006 - Vol 119 No 1229
[full text] [abstract] [PDF]

Resident Medical Officer working conditions in New Zealand: results of a recent survey
Stephen Child, Andrew Old
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [abstract] [PDF]

Key issues facing Resident Medical Officers (RMOs)
Deborah Powell
22-Oct-2004 - Vol 117 No 1204
[full text] [PDF]

New Zealand's Christchurch Hospital at night: an audit of medical activity from 2230 to 0800 hours
John Morton, Yvonne Williams, Mike Philpott
31-Mar-2006 - Vol 119 No 1231
[full text] [abstract] [PDF]

Is it ethical for doctors to strike?
Frank Frizelle
23-Jun-2006 - Vol 119 No 1236
[full text] [PDF]