Dr Emily Marfell has been a GP in Blenheim for close to 20 years.
A Blenheim GP says a new graduate medical degree programme in which students spend at least a year of their clinical placement in regional primary-care practices will help to address doctor shortages in provincial towns.
The government has announced the country's first graduate-entry medical school programme. The University of Waikato programme will take 120 students in its initial intake in 2028.
Students will spend their first year studying at the University of Waikato Hamilton campus and their final three years based in either Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki/Whanganui, Hawke's Bay or Nelson Marlborough.
Dr Emily Marfell is a GP at Civic Health in Blenheim. Originally from Mid Canterbury, she has lived in the region for close to 20 years. She met her husband while working as a junior doctor, trained in the region as a GP registrar and has been there since.
