How do you study medicine in New Zealand?

Short answer first: two universities teach medicine in New Zealand, the University of Auckland and the University of Otago, and neither takes school leavers straight into the medical years. You spend a first year in Otago's Health Sciences First Year or in Auckland's BHSc or BSc (Biomedical Science), then compete for a share of about 322 domestic places at Otago or 317 at Auckland. Otago ranks on grades once you clear two UCAT thresholds. Auckland adds a Multiple Mini Interview. Six years in, you register with the Medical Council of New Zealand and start the intern year.

This guide follows one student from the first-year application to the first job as a doctor. It uses each university's rules as they stood in September 2026, including the changes Auckland has already published for 2028 entry, and the Medical Council's own pages for what comes after graduation.

Where can you study medicine in New Zealand?

Medicine sits at two universities, with a third on the way for graduates. Your route in starts with University Entrance and a first year chosen for medicine, so the NCEA side is covered in our guide to moving from NCEA to university. Here is what each school says about itself.

• Auckland teaches a six-year MBChB at Grafton. The University of Auckland's programme page lists 720 points, 317 domestic places a year and entry that is limited and competitive.
• Otago's MB ChB runs five years after its first year. The University of Otago's admission guidelines count five years from admission, after Health Sciences First Year in Dunedin or a previous degree.
• Waikato is building a graduate-entry school. The University of Waikato's New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine plans a four-year Doctor of Medicine, a 2028 start, applications opening in mid-2027 and an initial intake of 120 students.

For someone finishing Year 13 in 2026, that means two doors in 2027 and a third one later, after a first degree. Neither Auckland nor Otago admits you from school into the medical years themselves, so your first university year does the work of an application. Pick the first-year route you would be glad to finish even if medicine does not follow.

What does the first year involve?

In the first year you are not yet in the medical classes at either university. You take a fixed set of first-year papers or courses, and selection into second year rests on how you do in them, so there is little room for electives.

• Otago's Health Sciences First Year is seven compulsory papers in Dunedin. Its HSFY papers page lists CELS 191, CHEM 191, HUBS 191, PHSI 191, BIOC 192, HUBS 192 and POPH 192.
• HSFY adds an English test and an optional eighth paper. Otago's overview of HSFY requires every student to pass an English diagnostic test in semester 1 or take ENGL 128, and allows an eighth paper in the second semester. It also warns that HSFY is not the Bachelor of Health Sciences.
• Auckland's 2027 route is eight named courses. The BHSc and the BSc (Biomedical Science) share CHEM 110, BIOSCI 107, MEDSCI 142 and POPLHLTH 111, add programme-specific courses, and include WTRMHS 100 or WTRSCI 100.
• Auckland widens the list for 2028 entry. Applicants may come from the Bachelor of Biomedical Science, two BHSc majors or six BSc majors, and take CHEM 190 in place of CHEM 110.

The timing catches people out. Both universities want the first-year study done in the year you apply, so a student who starts first year in 2027 applies during 2027 for a place in 2028. At Auckland that means the 2028 rules are the ones that apply to you, not the 2027 rules you may have read about at school.

How are students chosen for second year?

This is where the two schools differ most. Otago ranks almost entirely on marks, while Auckland mixes marks with an interview and, depending on the year, a test.

Otago: grades first, UCAT as a gate

• You take all seven papers at Otago in the year you apply and pass them all. The guidelines ask for an average mark of at least 65 per cent in your best seven papers, counting the optional eighth if you take one.
• The UCAT is a threshold, not a score that counts. For 2027 entry Otago set verbal reasoning at or above the 20th percentile and situational judgement at or above the 10th. Past those lines, the UCAT carries no weight and places follow academic ranking.
• You get one attempt in this category. Otago allows one HSFY application, and AskOtago's UCAT page says a result from an earlier year cannot be reused.
• Outcomes arrive by 18 December. For 2027 entry, applications in the HSFY and Graduate categories closed on 13 August 2026.

Auckland: grades, a test and the MMI

• For 2027 entry, a GPA of 6.0 with no fails earns interview consideration. It is calculated across seven listed first-year courses, and you must also pass WTRMHS 100 or WTRSCI 100.
• The 2027 ranking weights four core grades at 60 per cent, UCAT ANZ at 15 and the MMI at 25. The core courses are BIOSCI 107, CHEM 110, MEDSCI 142 and POPLHLTH 111.
• From 2028 entry, grades become a gate and Casper replaces UCAT. You need a GPA of 6.0 across the four core courses and no grade below B in any of the eight, then ranking is 50 per cent MMI, with a minimum threshold, and 50 per cent Casper.
• Aegrotat passes can cost you eligibility. Auckland excludes First Year applicants with more than two aegrotat or compassionate consideration passes, so read how special consideration works at New Zealand universities before you lean on it.

Māori, Pacific, rural and equity pathways

• MAPAS is Auckland's Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme. Auckland's MAPAS page asks for verified Māori or Pacific whakapapa and New Zealand citizenship or permanent residence, an MH04 form and a MAPAS General or Specialty Interview, and offers tutorials, study space and a support adviser once you are in.
• RRAS ranks rural applicants in their own pool. Auckland's Regional Rural Admission Scheme covers five years of primary or three of secondary school in a regional or rural area, keeps the general minimums and ranks RRAS applicants separately.
• Otago fills places from equity groups first, in a set order. Its Admissions Policy for Health Professional Programmes selects Māori, Resident Indigenous Pacific, Refugee Background, Socioeconomic Equity and Rural applicants in that sequence, then general applicants.
• Ancestry is verified before you apply. Otago asks Māori and Pacific applicants to request verification early through eVision, and Pacific applicants also need a community leader's endorsement and a 500-word statement.

Can you get in with a degree or after a career?

A missed first-year attempt does not close medicine. Both schools keep a graduate route, and Otago runs an Alternative category for graduates and health professionals with broader experience.

• Otago's Graduate category takes a first degree finished within three years. The floor is a weighted GPA of 5, with 300-level papers weighted 1.5, 200-level 1.0 and 100-level 0.5 in the score.
• Otago's Alternative category is for domestic graduates and health professionals. It takes up to 10 per cent of places, opens on 1 April and closes on 1 May, needs no UCAT, and selects on your academic record, a CV, a one-page statement and a Zoom interview.
• Auckland's graduate entry asks for a GPA of 6.0 (B+) from a degree finished within five years. For 2027 the ranking is cumulative GPA 60 per cent, UCAT ANZ 15 and MMI 25; for 2028 it moves to MMI and Casper at half each.
• Waikato's Doctor of Medicine will take graduates of any field. Its page asks for a B grade average and a pass in GAMSAT, followed by interviews, and says final criteria and fees come with the mid-2027 application round.

Neither school lets you repeat the first-year category. Otago allows one HSFY application, and Auckland counts only your first attempt at the first-year courses, so after a miss the graduate routes are the way back. Otago recommends at least five years of experience for allied health professionals in the Alternative category, which rewards patience more than speed.

What do the six years look like?

After selection, the two programmes move from campus teaching to hospitals at about the same point, halfway through. The shape matters for where you will live and how much of your week is timetabled.

• Otago's years 2 and 3 are Early Learning in Medicine in Dunedin. Its programme structure page describes a high-contact timetable, and the MICN201 paper page puts about 60 per cent of the time in formal teaching and 40 per cent in independent and peer learning.
• Otago's years 4 to 6 split the class across three cities. The MB ChB regulations divide students between Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington by preference, with a ballot when one campus is oversubscribed.
• Auckland's Parts IV to VI run 35 to 42 weeks a year in hospitals and the community. Part II covers the basic medical and health sciences, Part III adds Medical Humanities, and a rural option lets you spend a full year in a rural community.
• Year 6 is the trainee intern year. Otago's regulations describe a Trainee Internship with clinical modules and an elective, and allow transfers between Auckland and Otago only at this level, one for one.
• A long degree strains StudyLink limits. StudyLink's loan page lets the MBChB at either university add up to 3 EFTS to the usual 7, but the Student Allowance limit for under-40s stays at 200 weeks.

A research year fits between Parts III and IV at Auckland, which lets students defer for a BMedSc(Hons). Otago's regulations allow the MB ChB to be combined with a BMedSc(Hons) and several other degrees in approved cases.

How are medical students assessed?

Otago publishes its assessment rules in full; Auckland's detailed rules sit in course outlines behind a university login, so this section leans on Otago and says so. One principle stands out: Otago's 2026 policy makes assessment criterion-referenced, so each student's work is judged on its own merits against set outcomes and standards.

• Otago awards terms for each year. A Board of Censors grants, defers or denies terms on attendance, knowledge, professional behaviour and skills assessments. You need terms to sit final exams, and a student denied terms normally repeats the year.
• Module results arrive as a Summary of Achievement. The 2026 assessment policies list Potential Distinction, Pass, Pass After Conditions Met and Fail as final module outcomes, with Conditional Pass and Incomplete as interim ones.
• Distinctions are being phased out. None at the end of Years 2 or 3 from 2026, none for Year 5 from 2027, and no Year 6 distinction or MB ChB with Distinction from 2028.
• Year 5 ends with a Whole Class Examination. It is two three-hour papers of 120 single-best-answer questions, with no marks lost for wrong answers, and you must pass it to enter Year 6. A two-hour Prescribing Skills Assessment must be passed before graduation.
• Special exams exist, and repeats are limited. The regulations allow a special (re-sit) or special (incomplete) examination at the end of Years 2, 3 and 5, and normally only one repeated year in the whole programme.
• Auckland requires every year to be passed in full. Its programme page says all years must be passed in their entirety before you can graduate.

What this means in practice: after first year, a steady record matters more than one spectacular exam. Otago can draw on earlier conditional passes when it decides terms in a later year, and professional conduct is assessed alongside knowledge, so turning up prepared counts for as much as your marks.

What can you write down on a clinical placement?

From early patient contact onwards you will keep notes about real people, and the rules are strict. For the general question of note-taking in each teaching format, see our guide to lectures, tutorials, labs and placements.

• Both schools use one code, signed before you start. The Code of Professional Conduct for Medical Students at the Universities of Auckland and Otago commits you to hold patient information in confidence, remove or copy nothing without specific permission, and keep documents and images de-identified, secure and destroyed once no longer needed.
• Case histories carry no names, NHI numbers or dates of birth. Otago's guidelines on confidentiality of clinical material say "Ms A, age x years" is enough, and any link back to the patient goes on a separate, secure sheet.
• No identifiable photos on your phone. Otago's guide to taking and sharing images bars identifiable images on personal devices, and images or copies of identifiable patient records.
• Recording patients needs explicit direction from teaching staff. The confidentiality guideline says audio, video or photographic recording should not happen otherwise, and must follow university and health provider policy.
• Patient talk stays in clinical settings. The same guideline rules out the cafeteria and other social settings.

So what goes in your notebook? The reasoning, not the person: the presentation, the differential you would have missed, the drug and dose you had to look up, the question to ask your registrar tomorrow. Written that way, the notes keep to the de-identification rule and serve revision far better than a transcribed history would.

What happens after you graduate?

The last step runs through a national job match and the Medical Council. Both start well before graduation day.

• You apply for a first job during the trainee intern year, through ACE. The ACE RMO guide for the 2027 training year says everyone seeking a first-year house officer post from the start of the training year applies through ACE, with one application reaching up to 20 district employers.
• Registration starts in the provisional general scope. The Medical Council's pathway for New Zealand graduates needs an approved qualification, fitness to practise and a confirmed job offer from an accredited training provider.
• PGY1 is four accredited attachments. The Council's PGY1 requirements add the 14 learning activities, an ACLS certificate under 18 months old and an Advisory Panel's recommendation for the general scope.
• PGY2 completes the two years. The Council's prevocational training page sets 13-week attachments, at least 12 months per year and one community-based attachment among the eight. Once the supervision endorsement is removed, the Council's graduate pathway page adds, you enrol in the Inpractice recertification programme unless you are in an accredited vocational training programme.
• The law behind registration is the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. Section 16 lists what makes an applicant unfit, from English not good enough to protect public safety to some criminal convictions.

For the 2027 training year, ACE applications closed on 3 July 2026, during the trainee intern year, and ACE accepts references only from TI or final-year placements, with a narrow exception for a student on an overseas elective. Plan your TI electives and referees with that date in mind.

How do you keep studying through the clinical years?

On rotations your study time comes in scraps: an hour after a shift, a quiet afternoon, a weekend before an exam. Otago's Year 5 paper tests the Core Conditions and Core Presentations in its Curriculum Map, so the aim is to turn each clinical day into material you can review later.

After each clinical day

1. Write two or three de-identified learning points from the patients you saw.
2. Tag each one with the core presentation it belongs to in your school's curriculum.
3. Note one question you could not answer and look it up before bed.

Each week

Turn the week's learning points into questions and test yourself without notes. Reviewing on a widening schedule keeps early rotations alive until the exam, and a spaced repetition schedule shows how to set the gaps. Keep one running list of the medicines you see used most often, since the Year 5 exam draws on Otago's Core Medicines List.

In the months before the Year 5 exam

At Otago, practise single-best-answer questions against the clock, two three-hour blocks at a time, because that is the format you will sit. Mark every miss by discipline, and spend the next week on the weakest two rather than rereading what you already know.

Where Notibo fits

Notibo helps in the lecture-heavy years, not on the wards. It records a lecture on a computer, or takes an audio file you upload, and returns a transcript and structured notes; on Pro it also makes flashcards from the recording and schedules them for spaced repetition. PDF, PPTX and DOCX files, such as lecture slides, become notes and flashcards too. Ask before you record anyone; our guide to recording lectures in New Zealand covers the rules. Never record on a clinical placement.

You get Pro free for 14 days, with 240 minutes of audio, and no card is asked for. After those 14 days the free plan gives 30 minutes of audio a month. Pro costs 9.99 euro a month or 88.99 euro a year. Files are stored in the EU, transcription runs on US processors under standard contractual clauses, and the audio is deleted once the transcript and notes are saved.