The University of Auckland’s medical faculty deputy dean Warwick Bagg said he was thrilled.
Fifty students who would otherwise have been turned away from med school will now have the chance to become doctors.
The government has announced it would fund the extra places nationally from next year, to help train homegrown doctors and stem shortages.
“It gives 50 more students the opportunity to study medicine in what is a highly sought-after course,” he said.
He did not yet know how the extra students would be divided between Auckland and the other medical school at the University of Otago. But Auckland was ready to go now, he said.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall gave a guest lecture to medical students on Thursday, urging some to head into general practice, which has hundreds of older doctors set to retire.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall.
President of the New Zealand Medical Students Association Thomas Swinborn said the extra funding was good news.
“Medical school is an apprenticeship.
