The university held a special event with more than 100 guests to celebrate the members of Friends of the Otago Medical School, who had offered their assistance to the programme in a variety of ways.
John Marrable said it was important for students to get "lived experience" — and for the public to know what their training looked like.
Mr Marrable has been wheelchair bound since he was 10, when he broke his back in an accident.
He helped host seminars and mock consultations with the medical students.
"So often, unfortunately, when you’re dealing with the medical profession, they’re just looking at it from the medical model, rather than a social model.
"I have to remind them that they’re not trying to cure me of my paraplegia."
Mr Marrable has assisted with the university programme since its inception in 2008.
"We’re just telling our story, and it’s important to us, but it seems it’s more important to them sometimes, because they realise that they can make a difference to ensure that the experience the person’s having, whether it be at home, hospital, emergency department or wherever, is going to be a good service."
Adrienne Ensor helped medical school students to talk about and respond to situations involving grief. She said she drew upon the death of her husband, and let the students process it.
"I think I’ve got as much out of it as what the students do because you continue grieving over the years and each time I go, I find I let go of a wee bit more grief."
The students asked very good questions, she said.
"I think it’s important a student understands how to deal with somebody who is grieving and how themselves will one day have to deal with it as well on a personal level. You can read lots of things in a textbook, but it’s not quite the same."
Allan Jackson, a former schoolmaster, said he wanted to give back to the university.
"This work is vital, I believe — at the cutting edge, in fact. If you’ve got a patient in hospital, and you’re only treating the patient in the bed, you’re ignoring the family left at home.
"The patient in the bed is not going to get better unless you deal with the family at home as well.
"So you learn how to deal with the whole person, which includes the family."
Course convener Dr Liz Heath said the programme had frequently changed to meet public medical needs.
"We get amazing feedback from our students, especially related to their interactions with our volunteers, because it’s one thing to learn about something in theory, it’s another thing entirely when you put flesh on that, and they see it in a real person and it has so much more impact hearing people’s stories about their lived experience.
"It’s very, very meaningful, and the students do amazingly well."
