The Government has added South Canterbury and surgical nursing to a list of regions and specialities open to health graduates under its voluntary bonding scheme.
The scheme was introduced last year in areas considered difficult to staff, and works by encouraging health graduates to establish careers in hard to staff specialities and communities throughout New Zealand by offering student loan debt write-offs or cash incentives over three to five years.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said today that South Canterbury had been added to the list of hard to staff regions, while surgical nursing had been added to the list of hard to staff specialities which qualify for the scheme.
"Demand in the first year of the scheme far exceeded expectations," Mr Ryall said. "We estimated around 350 doctors, nurses and midwives may apply but confirmed more than 890 recent graduates."
Registrations for this year's intake will close on April 30.
