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Training times for surgeons will be sliced in a bid to get them into top gear sooner and to ease critical staff shortages here and in Australia.
It can take 18 years from leaving school to become a consultant surgeon. Under a plan unveiled yesterday about three years will go from the training.
After six years of undergraduate study, plus two as a house surgeon, it now takes from seven to 10 years to become fully qualified. Heart surgeons and neurosurgeons require the longest apprenticeships.
The Australasian College of Surgeons plans to reduce this to five or six years, depending on the sub-specialty.
The college says there is a crisis on both sides of the Tasman. New Zealand has about 650 practising surgeons but faces a shortage that will only get worse if it is not addressed.
The college predicts 1000 surgeons will be needed by 2026 to cope with a larger population with more elderly.
The college hopes to attract more trainees by reducing the training time but insists standards will not drop.
It expects wider use of computerised surgery simulators will help.
The chairwoman of the college's New Zealand board, Dr Cathy Ferguson, said the shortage of surgeons affected rural areas and public hospitals but not metropolitan private facilities.
