HSFY info website review
The content of the Health Sciences First Year information webpages is being reviewed and therefore is subject to change.
If you have any questions about HSFY, please contact:
Email admissions@otago.ac.nz
Most Health Sciences First Year ( HSFY ) students can apply to enrol in an optional eighth paper in second semester, selected from the approved list below.
International sponsored students cannot add an optional eighth paper until they have discussed this with an International Adviser.
Find the contact list of International Advisers
The aim of the eighth paper option is to foster critical thinking and analysis, by giving students the opportunity to explore areas outside of the seven HSFY papers.
If you enrol in an eighth paper, the results in your best seven papers will be counted for the purposes of admission to some of the professional programmes in the HSFY category, provided that you have passed the compulsory seven papers to the required standard. The required minimum eligibility threshold for each programme is outlined in the Guidelines for Admission.
Guidelines for Admission to Health Sciences professional programmes
After you have received your semester 1 results you will be able to apply to enrol in your eighth optional paper on the Programmes and Papers page in eVision. For more information about adding a paper (including deadlines), visit:
FAQs
Approved optional eighth papers for 2025
- ANTH 105 Global and Local Cultures*
- ANTH 106 Human Origins and Civilisations*
- ASTR 101 Introduction to Astronomy*
- BIBS 121 Interpreting the New Testament*
- BIOL 112 Animal Biology
- BIOL 123 Plants: How They Shape the World
- BSNS 111 Business and Society
- CHEM 111 Chemistry: Molecular Architecture
- CHTH 111 Doing Theology*
- CHTH 131 God and Ethics in the Modern World*
- CLAS 105 Greek Mythology*
- COMO 101 Modelling and Computation
- EDUC 101 Education and Society*
- ENGL 128 Effective Communication*
- ENGL 131 Controversial Classics*
- GEND 102 Bodies, Sexualities and Society*
- GEOG 102 Geographies of Sustainable Futures*
- GEOL 112 Dynamic Earth
- HIST 108 From Medieval to Modern Europe*
- HIST 123 Revolutions*
- HUNT 141 Understanding Human Nutrition
- MANT 101 Managing for Performance
- MAOR 102 Māori Society*
- MAOR 110 Introduction to Conversational Māori*
- MARI 112 Global Marine Systems
- MART 112 Marketing Management
- MATH 130 Fundamentals of Modern Mathematics 1
- PACI 101 Pacific Societies*
- PHIL 103 Ethical issues*
- PHSI 132 Fundamentals of Physics II
- POLS 102 New Zealand Politics – Introduction*
- PSYC 112 Human Thought and Behaviour*
- SOCI 102 Cultural and Social Identities*
- SOCI 103 Crime, Deviance and Social Transformation*
- SOWK 111 Working with People: The New Zealand Context*
- SPEX 102 Principles of Exercise for Health and Performance
- STAT 115 Introduction to Biostatistics*
- THEA 153 Voice and Movement*
- TOUR 101 Introduction to Tourism
- TOUR 102 Global Tourism