Study Rehabilitation at Otago

10 great reasons to study rehabilitation at Otago

1. Connect with experts from all fields of rehabilitation 
2. Widen the scope of your skills and transform your practice
3. Gain the confidence to put yourself forward for promotion and leadership opportunities
4. Extend your collaborative and teamworking capabilities
5. Gain access to the latest evidence-based thinking to guide rehabilitation practice
6. Flexible course structure that can be tailored to meet your area of interest
7. Our programmes are designed for distance learning – they have been delivered online for over 20 years
8. You can study full-time or part-time to fit around other commitments
9. Enjoy unparalleled study skills support
10. Access a wealth of University resources from home at any time

Learn from leaders and innovators in rehabilitation research and clinical practice

Our postgraduate programmes are taught by the outstanding Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit (RTRU).

This interprofessional team draws on the knowledge and experience of experts in medicine, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and clinical psychology.

More about the Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit

Who are our programmes for?

Our qualifications will benefit those involved with improving rehabilitation outcomes across a wide range of disciplines.

These include:

• Physiotherapists
• Nurses
• Occupational therapists
• Speech-language therapists
• Psychologists
• Social workers
• Vocational advisers
• Health service managers
• Policy advisers
• Exercise physiologists
• Personal trainers

Enrolments are also welcome from those with lived experience of rehabilitation who are interested in a career in the field.

Qualifications

We offer distance-taught qualifications at the postgraduate certificate, diploma, master’s and PhD level.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Rehabilitation (PGCertRehab)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Rehabilitation (PGDipRehab)

Master’s and PhD candidates

Interested in research?

Our interprofessional academic team includes world-leading researchers in the rehabilitation field with connections to international groups such as Cochrane Rehabilitation and the Australasian Musculoskeletal Clinical Trials Network.

They have wide-ranging clinical and research interests, as reflected in the variety of papers on offer.

• Master of Health Sciences (MHealSc)

Papers

See the full list of Rehabilitation (REHB) papers.

What our students say

“I recently changed jobs to work with ACC contracts such as Vocational Rehabilitation. I felt I’d best meet the needs of a new patient population by furthering my education in rehabilitation. Otago offered relevant papers through distance learning.

“I’m enjoying contemplating my role as a health professional from a deeper perspective and interacting with fellow students following different career paths. This helps me consider different points of view and expand my learning.”

– Hamish Gunson – Postgraduate Certificate in Rehabilitation

“As a health professional, I felt it was important to have supervisors who could identify with my clinical experience and support me in merging clinical and research roles.

“I received the high-quality education I expected from Otago, with a great balance of support, direction and autonomy.

“If studying by distance makes it more accessible or feasible for you to continue your education, then do it. You won’t regret it!”

– Catherine Vingerhoets – PhD student, Rehabilitation

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Contact details

Postgraduate Co-ordinator
Rehabilitation Teaching and Research Unit
University of Otago, Wellington
Email rtru@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 4 385 5591
Web otago.ac.nz/rehab

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Regulations on this page are taken from the 2023 Calendar and supplementary material.