What are the differences between contemporary New Zealand medical students and those trained in previous years?

From the Guidelines

New Zealand medical students today differ from those in the past primarily through their increased diversity, technology integration, and broader educational focus, with a greater emphasis on patient-centered care and partnerships with patients and families, as highlighted in recent studies 1.

Key Differences

• Increased diversity in the student body, with greater representation of women, Māori, Pacific Islanders, and students from varied socioeconomic backgrounds
• Integration of technology, such as electronic health records, telemedicine platforms, simulation technology, and AI-assisted learning tools, into their training
• Expanded curriculum that emphasizes cultural competency, communication skills, ethics, public health, and preventive medicine, in addition to traditional biomedical knowledge
• More structured work hours with a focus on wellbeing and work-life balance, contrasting with the grueling schedules common in previous generations
• Greater emphasis on interdisciplinary teamwork, evidence-based medicine, and continuous professional development, preparing students for the collaborative and evolving nature of modern healthcare practice

Patient-Centered Care

• Incorporation of patients and families into health professional education, not only as recipients of care but also as teachers and evaluators of residents and students, as recommended by the American College of Physicians 1
• Programs such as the Patients as Teachers Project and the LEAP program, which allow medical students to learn from patients and families in a more personalized and interactive way

Mental Health and Wellbeing

• Introduction of wellness programs that teach mind-body-based stress-reduction skills, which have been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and distress tolerance in medical students 1
• Implementation of formal faculty advisor/mentor programs, which can provide students with support and guidance throughout their training
• Comprehensive reform of the learning environment, which incorporates many of these interventions, is likely required to improve medical student wellbeing 1

From the Research

Demographic Differences

• New Zealand medical students today are more diverse than in the past, with a higher proportion of females, Maori, Pacific, rural, Asian, and overseas-born students 2.
• The socio-demographic profile of medical students in New Zealand shows that there are more women (59.1%) enrolled to study medicine than men (40.9%) 3.
• Maori and Pacific students have lower overall rates of enrolment, with rate ratios of 0.92 and 0.85, respectively 3.

Career Choices and Influences

• Medical students from rural backgrounds are more likely to practice in rural areas and enter general practice 2, 4.
• Students who are from rural areas or have an intention to practice in rural areas at entry are more likely to have a rural intention upon graduating 4.
• The views of medical students on euthanasia/assisted dying change during their medical education, with 5th-year students being less likely to support it than 2nd-year students 5.

Representation and Diversity

• New Zealand's medical students do not reflect the diverse communities they will serve, with under-representation of Maori and Pacific students and students from low socioeconomic and rural backgrounds 3.
• To address these issues, policy changes such as Indigenising institutional ways of knowing and being, reviewing selection policies, and increasing funding for New Zealanders to study medicine have been suggested 3.