More than 500 Bay of Plenty school pupils targeted in rural health careers promotion tours

Rural health careers are being showcased to school students in Bay of Plenty. Photo / Getty Images

Next week, a group of tertiary health students will take the spotlight to showcase rural health careers to school pupils in the Bay of Plenty.

As part of the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network's rural school tours, the students will visit schools in Edgecumbe, Kawerau, Murupara, and Whakatāne to host interactive health career workshops.

A media release from the Rural General Practice Network said during the workshops, year 9 and 10 pupils will have the opportunity to get hands-on with medical equipment like stethoscopes and dental equipment and learn how to perform CPR and take blood pressure.

The tertiary students will also give advice and share their own training experiences to showcase health as a positive and viable career pathway for rural young people.

"The rural school tours are an important part of the Rural Health Careers Promotion Programme, led by the network in partnership with Students of Rural Health Aotearoa (SoRHA) and funded by the Ministry of Health, which aims to encourage young people to study health careers at a tertiary level," the release said.

"Targeting rural students is key as research shows rural young people are more likely to choose to work in a rural location when they are qualified."

The school visits also target rural areas, like Bay of Plenty, where there are higher populations of Māori students to encourage them into rural health careers to help build a strong future rural Māori health workforce and help reduce the inequities in Māori health outcomes.

While in the Bay of Plenty, the tertiary students will also be at the Health Careers Expo at Whakatāne Hospital on July 1.

While there they will talk to senior school pupils about career opportunities available in health and different health disciplines including medicine, nursing, dentistry, midwifery, and allied health, among others.

"The rural school tours and health careers expo give us a great chance to get in front of rural school pupils from the Bay of Plenty region and equip them with the knowledge and advice they need to make informed decisions about future careers in health," the release said.

During this tour, the tertiary students will also visit local health providers, iwi, and meet with health professionals to learn about rural community health.

Presenting current health students with positive rural experiences and giving them the opportunity to foster connections within rural communities will encourage them to enter rural health jobs themselves when they graduate.