International medical graduates' training needs: perceptions of New Zealand hospital staff.

Objective: To determine the opinion of New Zealand doctors and nurses on the possible training needs of international medical graduates (IMGS) in New Zealand hospitals.

Design: A postal questionnaire sent to hospital doctors and nurses.

Methods: All doctors working at Wellington, Kenepuru, and Hutt Hospitals in the greater Wellington region, and nurses working in acute medical wards at the same hospitals, were asked to complete a questionnaire based on the Northern Clinical Training Network and Capital Coast District Health Board resident medical officer assessment forms regarding an overseas-trained doctor they had worked with in the last year.

Results: The response rate for the doctor's questionnaires was 68/174 (39.1%), with 51 of these from New Zealand doctors rating an international medical graduate. The response rate for the nurses was 58/60 (96.7%). Areas where the median score of the questionnaire was unsatisfactory (less than three out of five on an ordinal scale rating performance) were clinical documentation; communication with patients, families, and other health professionals; knowledge of hospital policies and procedures, and medicolegal matters; and some aspects of patient management. There was no difference in median ratings between doctors and nurses.

Conclusions: More specific training may improve the performance of overseas-trained doctors in the New Zealand health system. A further study of the perceived needs of the overseas-trained doctors themselves may be useful.