Degrees ‘must help NZ doctors deal with social inequalities’

Socially disadvantaged people have problems that textbooks cannot solve, says GP

New Zealand’s universities must look beyond “textbook medicine” in training doctors to work with low-income, socially disadvantaged communities, a Pacific Islands medical graduate has said.

Canaan Aumua, a public health advocate and Auckland GP, says that if doctors cannot communicate with their patients, their medical education “can’t be put to good practice”.