Establishing a professional body for rural hospital generalist doctors was identified as a priority by the Rural Hospital Doctors Working Party which was formed in July 2005. In May 2006 the Working Party lodged an application with the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) for Branch Advisory Body status and the recognition of rural hospital medicine as a new scope of practice. The Branch Advisory Body will sit within the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. It will have an independent Board of Studies which will administer vocational training and reaccreditation programmes for these doctors. These initiatives represent an opportunity to generate the skilled generalist medical workforce NZ rural hospitals need to move into the future. The application is currently before the MCNZ, and a final decision is expected later this year. This paper outlines some of the main points contained in the application document.