Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Aotearoa New Zealand, an established remote community marae-based workshop (a component of a postgraduate rural medical programme) was converted into a virtual platform. The aim of this study was to explore student and teacher experiences of this virtual adaptation with focus on cultural aspects.

This study aimed to understand rural–urban differences in the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations during the peak period of the national vaccination roll-out in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Using a linked national dataset of health service users aged 12+ years and COVID-19 immunization records, age-standardized rates of vaccination uptake were calculated at fortnightly intervals, between June and December 2021, by rurality, ethnicity, and region.

The study had a qualitative design, using qualitative content analysis. The study was conducted in South Island, New Zealand, and included nine different rural hospitals.

In this paper, 10% of acute hospital admissions, transfers and arranged admissions for Māori are to hospitals outside of their home domicile which increases with higher levels of deprivation.

How rurality is defined matters, both from a policy and service delivery perspective, and for rural populations and communities.

A substantial minority of both Māori and European liver cancer patients must travel more than 200km for their first primary liver surgery, and this situation appears worse for Māori. This research has important implications for rural communities – which have a higher proportion of Māori residents than urban areas – and there are likely to be similar situations with other essential health services.