Choosing the right university for your medical studies is a crucial decision, whether you're aspiring to become a doctor or pursuing a medical course.
Here, we'll look at the medical schools in New Zealand and universities offering various medical courses.
Ranking New Zealand's Universities for Medical Courses
In New Zealand, there are eight universities. However, there are only two Medical Schools: The University of Otago and the University of Auckland.
All eight universities offer specific medical or health courses. Still, specifically for becoming a doctor, you'll have to attend one of the two with a medical school.
That said, Waikato University plans to establish a medical school, but the University of Waikato Medical School's plans mean that students won't start studying there until 2027.
Only five of New Zealand's eight universities regularly rank for medical courses. Our sources didn't include Auckland University of Technology, Lincoln University, or the University of Waikato.
Some medical and health courses are still available at these universities and are worth considering.
Here are the ranks of the other five universities in New Zealand for medical courses across various online sources and their average position.
| Rank | EduRank | Crimson Education | CollegeDunia | MedEntry | Medify | Average Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Auckland | University of Auckland | University of Auckland | University of Auckland | University of Auckland | University of Auckland |
| 2 | University of Otago | University of Otago | University of Otago | University of Otago | University of Otago | University of Otago |
| 3 | Massey University | Victoria University of Wellington | Massey University | Victoria University of Wellington | Victoria University of Wellington | Victoria University of Wellington |
| 4 | Victoria University of Wellington | Massey University | Victoria University of Wellington | Massey University | Massey University | Massey University |
| 5 | University of Canterbury | University of Canterbury | University of Canterbury | University of Canterbury | University of Canterbury | University of Canterbury |
This leaves us with three clear tiers of universities in New Zealand when it comes to studying medicine or health:
- Unranked Universities in New Zealand for Medical Courses
- Ranked Universities in New Zealand without a Medical School
- Ranked Universities in New Zealand with Medical Schools
Remember to consider the unranked universities and the two with medical schools. After all, it entirely depends on what you want to study and the area of medicine you're interested in.
To give you a better idea of each university's overall quality, here are all the universities in New Zealand ranked generally, plus their global rankings.
| New Zealand Rank | Global Rank | University |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 68 | The University of Auckland |
| 2 | 206 | University of Otago |
| 3 | 239 | Massey University |
| 4 | 241 | Victoria University of Wellington |
| 5 | 250 | University of Waikato |
| 6 | 256 | University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha |
| 7 | 362 | Lincoln University |
| 8 | 407 | Auckland University of Technology (AUT) |
Unranked Universities in New Zealand for Medical Courses
Let's start with the universities that didn't end up with a rank for medical courses. As you'll see, there are courses in health and medicine-adjacent fields, but not necessarily the courses you need to complete to become a doctor.
These could include courses in nursing, physiotherapy, health, etc. If any of these areas of study are of interest to you, these universities could still be worth considering.
Auckland University of Technology
The Auckland University of Technology (AUT) offers several medical and health courses, including:
- Bachelor of Health Science
- Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science
- Master of Nursing Science
- Master of Health Practice
- Master of Public Health
- Master of Physiotherapy Practice
- Doctor of Health Science
As you can see, health science qualifications are the main route for undergraduate and doctoral students. This pathway offers many different majors and ways to specialise, including podiatry, midwifery, psychology, and oral health.
It's worth considering them if there's a particular area that you're interested in.
Lincoln University
Lincoln University started out as the School of Agriculture of Canterbury University College, and it remains predominantly a public agricultural research university today.
Although the choices of medical courses here are more limited than those available at AUT, there are still options that are worth considering.
Most health-adjacent courses naturally focus on agriculture, plants, and plant biology. There are options to study food science, which can include some aspects of human health, or sport and exercise science, which includes physiology.
Of course, Lincoln University does not have a medical school, so there are no options for becoming a doctor.
University of Waikato
As mentioned, the University of Waikato has yet to establish a medical school. However, plans are in place to admit the first cohort of medical school students in 2027.
For the time being, students can study the following courses:
- Bachelor of Health
- Bachelor of Nursing
- Postgraduate Certificate of Health Science
- Master of Health, Sport and Human Performance
- Doctor of Health Science
- Certificate in Health and Wellbeing
The Bachelor of Health at the University of Waikato offers majors in health promotion or biomedical sciences.
The Bachelor of Nursing degree is great for those looking for a career as a registered nurse.
Ranked Universities in New Zealand without a Medical School
Now we're onto the universities in New Zealand that ranked for medical courses. As the universities with medical schools naturally took 1st and 2nd in the rankings, here are the universities that ranked 3rd through 5th.
In terms of the global rankings, the University of Waikato was the only university to rank above any of these universities, placing 5th overall but outside of the rankings for medical courses.
University of Canterbury
The University of Canterbury offers various health qualifications across health sciences, sport and sport science, nursing, counselling, child and family psychology, and talking therapies and interventions.
There are also courses and classes in various fields like:
- Audiology
- Counselling
- Health Science
- Nursing
- Medical Physics / Medicinal Chemistry / Biology
- Psychology
- Social Work
- Speech and Language Pathology
- Sport and Sport Science
The undergraduate options include bachelor's degrees, diplomas, and certificates in the above areas.
With such a broad range of courses on offer, it'd be worthwhile looking at the University of Canterbury's course catalogue.
Massey University
Massey University also offers plenty of study options in health. Areas of study include:
- Biological and natural sciences
- Environmental and occupational health
- Food and nutrition
- Māori knowledge
- Nursing
- Public health
- Psychology and mental health
- Social work
- Sport and exercise
- Sustainability
Most courses and classes are offered through Massey's College of Health.
The courses you could study include the Bachelor of Health Science, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Social Work, and Bachelor of Sport and Exercise, for example.
Naturally, there are also postgraduate qualifications available from Massey University in the same fields of study.
Victoria University of Wellington
The Victoria University of Wellington's Faculty of Health is the place to go if you want to study a degree or qualification in many different areas.
These qualifications include:
- Bachelor of Health
- Bachelor of Midwifery
- Bachelor of Global Studies
- Graduate Certificate in Health
- Graduate Diploma in Health
- There are also postgraduate qualifications such as:
- Postgraduate Certificate in Health
- Postgraduate Certificate in Midwifery
- Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing Science
- Postgraduate Diploma in Health
- Master of Health
- Master of Health Psychology
- Master of Nursing Practice
Victoria University of Wellington offers plenty of options, so be sure to research exactly what the Faculty of Health can do for you.
Ranked Universities in New Zealand with Medical Schools
Finally, we've reached the business end of the rankings, and the two universities in New Zealand currently have fully-fledged medical schools: The University of Otago and the University of Auckland.
As medical schools, these are the places where you have to study if you want to complete your training as a doctor and begin practising medicine.
University of Otago
The University of Otago's medical school, aptly named Otago Medical School, offers many of the same courses as the other universities we've seen.
For example, the University of Otago still offers a Bachelor of Health Sciences, in which students can major in community health care, Maori health, Pacific and global health, and public health.
This course is for those seeking careers as community health workers, health promoters, policy analysts, case managers, etc.
There's also the Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science. With over 70% of medical decisions based on lab results, medical laboratory science is crucial to medicine. The course is for those who want to work as a medical laboratory scientist in New Zealand.
The course that aspiring doctors will be interested in is the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Sugery. This is the medical degree offered by Otago Medical School.
University of Auckland
Finally, we have the University of Auckland's School of Medicine. The University of Auckland was ranked #1 in every source we could find.
There are courses in anaesthesiology, clinical education, clinical quality and safety, health psychology, ophthalmology, psychiatry, surgery, and many others.
The Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery is the course for aspiring doctors. It is run and administered by three schools within the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland: the School of Medicine, the School of Medical Sciences, and the School of Population Health.
You can find out more information on these courses and all the courses from the other universities in this article on their websites and through their course catalogues.
If you need help studying any of these subjects, consider learning with a private tutor!
Many tutors on the Superprof website offer their first session for free, so you can try several options before choosing the right one.
Just search for "Medicine" on the Superprof website.
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