Heather Osborne, who is working within the paediatric unit and is used to home temperatures -10C, described the road trip from Auckland Airport to Whakatane as stunning.
"That long stretch of beach just before Whakatane [Pikowai/Matata] had me yelping with excitement," she said.
While all say Scottish beaches are beautiful, they admit they have nothing on what's on offer in the Eastern Bay."Ours are rocky and rarely sunny," general medicine trainee Roisin Donnelly said. "They're more for walking a dog along and, at the moment, wearing your snow gear."
Swimming has already played a part in their stay with two of the students having felt the sting of the sun - even with factor 50 sunscreen as a shield.
They've also taken on the Whakatane Hotel quiz and claimed a commendable third.
Sarah Taghizadeh said the eight students had wanted to be in the same place and the Bay of Plenty was able to accommodate their request. "It was important for us to be together and we had heard great things about New Zealand as a place and as a medical training area," Ms Taghizadeh said.
While Whakatane has 108 beds, the Scottish hospital the trainee doctors work in has between 900 and 1000 beds.
Ms Donnelly said they had been told New Zealand medicine was similar to what they were used to before they applied to come here.
While in Whakatane the almost doctors will be gaining a lot of hands-on experience before spending their last two weeks touring the South Island.
All agree they would consider a future in New Zealand once they have graduated.
