This page provides information on health professional courses provided at the University of Otago Wellington. For several courses, students will study in Dunedin for the first years of their course and come to Wellington for their final or postgraduate years. The Kia Ora Hauora website is also an excellent resource for anyone considering health careers.
The principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi/The Treaty of Waitangi underpin the Government's health policy and strategic direction. The principle of partnership requires Māori to work in all levels of the health system, in the governance, design, planning, development and delivery of health and disability services.
Growing the Māori health and disability workforce is an important priority for improving Māori health. The University of Otago aims to contribute to a Māori health and disability workforce that reflects the Māori population, Māori values and Māori models of practice.
Find out more about health careers at the University of Otago:
Rangahau Hauora
Māori Health Research
Research underpins evidence-based health policy and practice. You can contribute to Māori health development as a researcher by building an evidence base derived from research that upholds rangatiratanga and utilises and advances Māori knowledge, resources, and people.
Māori health research development opportunities at UOW include summer studentships, Masters and PhD theses, and postgraduate certificates and diplomas including research courses. There is also a range of research groups at UOW who are working on research that aims to improve Māori health.
Te Kaunihera Rangahau Hauora o Aotearoa (Health Research Council of New Zealand) provides a range of funding opportunities and career development awards for Māori health researchers.
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga is New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) with 21 partner research entities, including the University of Otago. Its vision is “of Māori leading New Zealand into the future and realising the creative potential of Māori communities and bringing positive change and transformation to the nation, and the wider world.” It also provides opportunities for student development and excellence and emerging researchers in the field of Indigenous research with scholarships, awards and specific training initiatives.
Kahikatea
Transition and foundation scholarships for Health Sciences
The Māori Health Workforce Development Unit offers scholarships for Māori students interested in a career in Health Sciences.
Kahikatea – Health Sciences transition and preparation scholarships
Haumanu Hihinga Iraruke
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapists use radiation to treat disease, mostly cancer.
“I have always enjoyed learning new things and prefer the hands-on approach, which is exactly what the degree in Radiation Therapy offered me.” Michele Gatfield, Graduate in Radiation Therapy
You can become a radiation therapist after completing a three-year degree at the University of Otago, Wellington.
Find out more: Radiation Therapy at UOW
Hauora
Medicine
Doctors help to prevent, diagnose, treat and cure illness, injury and diseases. Medical students at the University of Otago study in Dunedin for the first three years. Some students then come to Wellington for Years 4 to 6. Find out more about Health Sciences First Year study.
To help you get into medical school, it's recommended you take Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Calculus or Statistics, and English at Year 13 level. If you have not had the opportunity to study these subjects at school, the Kahikatea foundation programmes can help you achieve the required level.
See the specialty postgraduate programmes offered at UOW: Aviation Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Sleep Medicine, Primary Health Care, Obstetrics and Medical Gynaecology, Travel Medicine, Medical Technology. Child Health, Public Health, General Practice.
Te Ohu Rata o Aotearoa (Te ORA), the Māori Medical Practitioners Association, represents Māori medical students, doctors and medical practitioners working as clinicians, specialists, researchers and teachers. It aims to advance Māori health by increasing the Māori medical workforce and providing a supportive network.
Hauora Tūmatanui
Public Health
Public health creates or advocates for healthy social, physical, and cultural environments. People working in public health aim to promote and protect living conditions that prevent disease and support health and wellbeing.
Public health practice in Aotearoa/New Zealand recognises the interconnectedness of whanau, hapū, and iwi development and public health. Māori development in education, employment, housing, and justice helps to improve the health of the Māori population.
The Public Health Department at UOW offers postgraduate programmes (Diploma in Public Health, Masters Public Health and PhD) including papers on Māori Health.
Whakamātūtūnga
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation aims to help people recover from injury, illness, or disease by restoring a patient's function and/or by modifying their physical and social environment. Some types of rehabilitation include physical, occupational, and speech therapy. It aims to help people achieve maximum possible physical and mental fitness and independence after illness or injury.
The Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit at the University of Otago Wellington offers postgraduate programmes in rehabilitation including certificates, diplomas, Masters and PhDs.
Visit the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association for more information on rehabilitation in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Kōmiri
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapists use their in-depth knowledge of how the body works, combined with hands-on clinical skills, to assess, diagnose and treat people's symptoms of illness, injury or disability.
You can become a physiotherapist by undertaking a four-year undergraduate degree. In the first year you study in the First Year Health Sciences Programme in Dunedin. Years 2 and 3 are based at Te Kura Kōmiri Pai, the School of Physiotherapy in Dunedin. The fourth year is mostly clinical practice and some students come to the University of Otago Wellington to complete their 4th year.
Tae Ora Tinana is the Māori partner of Kōmiri Aotearoa, the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists and represents Māori physiotherapists, Māori physiotherapy students, and Māori physiotherapy assistants.