It comes after the university confirmed last week it would close the department in November, losing nearly six full-time equivalent staff.
The Christchurch clinic was created to provide clinical placements for some of the school’s physiotherapy students in Christchurch and most recently was used for about 30 students over five six-week rotations annually.
However, National Party health spokesman Dr Shane Reti said he was "surprised" by the move.
He had asked several parliamentary written questions on the subject, he said.
"It’s not clear to me that this was well-signalled to the students, the staff and the physiotherapy community in Christchurch and Dunedin," Dr Reti said.
"Part of the reasoning they give is the clinic is struggling to attract the number of patients required for it to be viable financially.
"I’m not sure how that could possibly be the case. What I’ve heard is that physiotherapists in Christchurch especially are struggling with high waitlist times."
"What worries me is the physiotherapy pipeline. If you train in places, you often stay in places. These students will form networks in Christchurch especially," he said.
"To remove that access is a way to destroy that pipeline."
He acknowledged the university was going through a "financial crisis", and had needed to find savings of $60 million.
However, he wanted "reassurance it explored every opportunity for shared services" and "thought about the downstream effects for the industry down the line", he said.
School of Physiotherapy dean Prof Leigh Hale said the main function of the Christchurch clinic was "to provide education in a clinical setting" for some of their students.
"Unfortunately, the clinic is not generating enough income to offset its running costs.
"We do not expect any issues finding clinical placements for our students at private and public providers throughout the country," Prof Hale said.
Physiotherapy New Zealand chief executive Sandra Kirby said it was saddened by the university’s decision, but it was probably "more reflective of systemic underfunding of the university sector for training".
"We are concerned the costs of delivering patients will be passed on to private providers, and those are still real costs.
"The fact the university feels it can still find placements is good news, but we still need to see the results," Ms Kirby said.
When the Otago Daily Times approached Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall, a spokesman said she would not comment on the operational matters of the university.
