Internationally there is a growing demand for health services. Skilled health workers, including doctors, have a high degree of international mobility and New Zealand (NZ) stands out internationally in terms of the significant flows of doctors in and out of the country. Through changes in training of doctors in NZ and migration flows, there have been major shifts in the composition of the medical workforce in NZ since the mid-1980s.
Purpose
Studies of the changing nature of the medical workforce often focus on gender and migration separately as well as only considering doctors as individuals. The aim of this exploratory study is to examine the living arrangements of doctors, the composition of migrant doctors who are coming to NZ, and to understand the educational and employment status of the partners of doctors.
Methodology
This exploratory study is based primarily on census data from 1986 through to 2006. The other main data source is immigration data collected by the Department of Labour. Immigration data is collected through the Department of Labour’s Application Management System (AMS). While the census data cover the period 1986 to 2006, the starting point for the migration data is 2002/03. This time period was not only chosen to illustrate recent migration trends, but also because this was when the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) was introduced. Some data from the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS) are also used. Robert Didham accessed the census data and Juthika Badkar accessed the Department of Labour data. The HLFS data is available via Statistics New Zealand’s website.
While some data are presented on GPs separately from total doctors, due to small numbers and confidentiality concerns most of the data do not separate out GPs.
This paper summarises a more detailed working paper. This includes a review of recent studies of the NZ medical workforce.
Key Results
Half of the female medical doctors approved for residence through the Skilled/Business stream migrated independently, while for male doctors less than a third came to NZ independently. Male migrant doctors were more likely to be partnered. Census data showed that people with medical backgrounds tend to partner with each other. However, these relationships are changing, as more women become doctors. In 1986 about 14% of male doctors had a nurse or midwife as a partner and nearly 9% had a doctor partner. By 2006 the proportion of partners of male doctors who were also doctors had risen to 16%, higher than the 9% who were nurses. For female doctors the changes are more dramatic. In 1986, 42% of female doctors in relationships had a doctor as a partner. By 2006, female doctors had increased substantially, but the percentage with a doctor partner had dropped to under a third. Well-qualified couples where one or both are doctors, have a greater propensity to live in main urban areas.