The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

Less than a year after the first annual meeting, in 1955, New Zealand members of the British College established a local Council, and it took until the early 1970s before a referendum of members overwhelmingly supported the New Zealand College of General Practitioners. It was incorporated on 13 August 1973 under the Charitable Trusts Act. It was the first specifically New Zealand establishment of the College in any medical discipline.

In 1979 the New Zealand College obtained permission to use the title The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Improving both standards and conditions for general practice were early priorities for the new College, which moved to establish the Family Medicine Training Programme (FMTP) in 1977 and advocated vocational registration of general practitioners through to the late 1980s, when the government of the day passed regulations enacting such a structure.

We are indebted for this information to "A History of General Practice and of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners" by R. E. Wright-St Clair.

Recently

Over the last decade, the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) has provided general practitioner education, leadership around general practice quality, advocacy and research on general practice to its membership and stakeholders.

In order to better meet the needs of its members and those of other sector stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Health and the Clinical Training Agency, the College has periodically reviewed its programmes, services and infrastructure to ensure they meet its requirements.

Most recently, this has been undertaken alongside a broader review of the College’s constitutional arrangements.  The outcomes of this review remain to be ratified.