A Dunedin academic says a $90,000 grant to enable him to work on his research project full-time will "help tremendously".
"It's great . . .Now I can breathe easy and do the best job possible," Kelby Smith-Han said.
Mr Smith-Han, a doctoral student and part-time tutor in the faculty of medicine administration at the Otago Medical School, and his supervisor, Dr Chrystal Jaye, from the school's department of general practice, have won one of three doctoral scholarships awarded by Ako Aotearoa, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.
Mr Smith-Han's area of interest is whether there is any hard evidence on why many medical students choose other career paths over general practice.
He will interview beginning medical students and those about to graduate to find out if they are being subjected to overt or subtle messages, or "unhelpful comments" from fellow students, tutors or family members which might influence them away from general practice.
Anecdotal reports were that medical students might be influenced by factors such as perceived higher salaries in other career paths, the need to buy into a GP practice and the isolation of rural practice.
If his research pinpointed trends or particular points at which students are influenced away from general practice, strategies could then be devised to overcome those negative influences, he said.
The research was important because there was already a shortage of GPs in New Zealand, Dr Jaye said. The shortage was particularly acute in rural areas which relied heavily on overseas doctors to provide cover.
Ako Aotearoa scholarships were also awarded to students at Waikato University and Massey University.
Each scholarship provides a salary of $25,000 per annum for three years, plus course fees.
