The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) is a professional body and postgraduate educational institute that sets standards for general practice in New Zealand, providing research, assessment, ongoing education, advocacy and support for general practitioners and general practice.
Established in 1974, the CollegeâÂÂs motto is Cum Scientia Caritas which translates as âÂÂwith knowledge, compassionâÂÂ.
The College is there throughout a general practitionerâÂÂs career from initial interest, to Fellowship, teaching and even owning a practice. The introduction of the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine (DRHM), Kapa Kaiaka and the evolution of Aiming for Excellence in recent years are examples of how the College has listened and acted on the changing landscape of health care.
The college has approximately 5,100 members, representing around 90 percent of all general practitioners in New Zealand.
The College administers two training programmes, namely General Practice and Rural Hospital Medicine.
The College is built from six components: the Board, National Advisory Council, Senior Management Team, Educational Advisory Group, chapters and faculty boards.
A culturally diverse Board governs the College; elected Board members are general practitioners, supported by independent directors. The seven Board members include:
The Council is the listening post for all College members and relays critical viewpoints from their local Faculty or Chapter regarding policy issues, priorities for policy work and other opinions from around New Zealand to the Board. The Council is composed of one member from every Faculty and Chapter all over New Zealand.
College faculties are based on geographical areas, and include: Northland, Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson-Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, and Southland.
Faculty representation sallow members to be involved in discussion and decision-making at a regional level. All college members are automatically assigned to a regional faculty and will receive information about faculty activities directly.
The College's MÃÂori representative group Te Akoranga a MÃÂui is involved in every part of its work, from strategic level to operational level. Membership of Te Akoranga a MÃÂui are open to members who identify as MÃÂori.
The name of Te Akoranga a MÃÂui holds special significance for its members and for the College. MÃÂui refers to Sir MÃÂui PÃ Âmare, the first MÃÂori doctor to graduate from any medical school, and Akoranga means teaching, learning and education.
With more than 150 members, Te Akoranga a MÃÂui is the first indigenous representative group established in any Australian or New Zealand medical college.
The college currently has four chapters based on major national areas of practice:
Made up of members who identify as Pacific. It also welcomes members who serve communities with large Pacific populations or have interest in Pacific health issues.
The voice of registrars; GPEP1 seminar groups elect a representative. During GPEP2/3 a representative is elected from each learning group and one from Rural Hospital Medicine. The resulting committee works together to provide activities that support and represent registrars.
What issues are facing rural practitioners? How can we put a âÂÂrural lensâ over the work of the College? What initiatives could improve the quality of rural training and general practice? Rural GPs have the opportunity to connect and collaborate to address these questions through the ChapterâÂÂs committees.
This Chapter serves as a hub to define and improve the body of knowledge for this specialist field, while providing education and collegial support. All Division of Rural Hospital Medicine New Zealand members automatically belong to this Chapter.
Categories of membership of the college are split into four main groups:
The College confers a number of awards, including Distinguished Fellowship, for "outstanding service to the College or DivisionâÂÂs work, or the science or practice of medicine. Distinguished Fellows embody [the] motto 'cum scientia caritas' â with knowledge, compassion,â and have made sustained contributions to general practice, medicine, or the health and wellbeing of the community". The notable Distinguished Fellows include Nikki Turner.
Publications produced by this organisation include: