Overview
Otago Medical School has four component schools—with campuses in Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington:
- Dunedin School of Medicine (DSM)
- School of Biomedical Sciences (BMS)
- University of Otago, Christchurch (UOC)
- University of Otago, Wellington (UOW)
Most of our undergraduate programmes are offered exclusively at the Dunedin campus. There are two exceptions:
- Medical students study in Dunedin for their first three years, before spending their next three years based at the Christchurch, Dunedin, or Wellington campuses
- Radiation Therapy students spend all three years of their degree based at the Wellington campus
Health Sciences First Year
Health Sciences First Year (HSFY) is the most common starting point for students interested in studying healthcare and/or the biomedical sciences, including those who want to study Medicine or Medical Laboratory Science.
HSFY counts as the first year of study for these two programmes, and many more.
HSFY is jointly taught by the University of Otago's Division of Health Sciences (which Otago Medical School is part of), and the Division of Sciences.
It is a competitive year, and must be completed in its entirety in your first year of university study.
Undergraduate subjects
Professional programmes
The grades you obtain during Health Sciences First Year (and other criteria) will determine which professional programmes you are eligible to apply for:
- Dentistry taught by the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Medicine
- Pharmacy taught by University of Otago School of Pharmacy
- Physiotherapy taught by the University of Otago School of Physiotherapy
Note: In rare cases, students who already have a university degree and/or relevant experience, may be eligible to apply for entry directly into the second year of the Medical Laboratory Science and Medical programmes.
Science programmes
Health Sciences First Year is excellent preparation for all other subjects taught by Otago Medical School. Successful completion of HSFY enables you direct entry into the second year of the following programmes:
- Anatomy
- Biochemistry
- Biomedical Sciences
- Genetics
- Microbiology and Immunology
- Molecular Biotechnology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Physiology
- Plant Biotechnology
- Public Health
Restricted-entry programmes
Health Sciences First Year is not a prerequisite for entry into Radiation Therapy, and cannot be credited towards the Bachelor of Radiation Therapy (BRT) degree—which is taught exclusively on the Wellington campus. However, it may be useful preparation for some students.
It is possible to apply for entry to Radiation Therapy directly from secondary school. There are other admission categories available to applicants who have already undertaken some university study (such as HSFY), or who have other qualifications.
Further information
We encourage you to follow the links above to learn more about your subject(s) of interest.
Please contact the Health Sciences Admissions Office for further information about enrolling in Health Sciences First Year, and admission into the programmes listed above.
