It comes a day after the university signed an agreement with the University of Canterbury, to reserve placements for Canterbury graduates at the new Hamilton-based New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (NZGSM) — the country’s first four-year graduate-entry programme.
While it has not yet been confirmed, it is believed 20 places are being considered for Canterbury students, among an initial intake of 120 students.
The new partnership is expected to widen access to medical training and bring together the complementary strengths of both universities to help develop a highly trained, community-connected medical workforce.
It will also create opportunities for collaborative research, benefiting communities across the country.
University of Otago health sciences pro-vice-chancellor Associate Prof Megan Gibbons said she was pleased there would be more opportunities for students to get medical school training through "the Waikato pathway".
"We, like the rest of New Zealand, understand the shortage of doctors and other healthcare workers in the country.
"We understand that graduates with a B average from any New Zealand university degree will be eligible for the Waikato medical school, so Otago graduates will also have that opportunity."
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree in any field of study will be eligible to apply to study at the NZGSM.
It is a common model of medical education in Australia, Canada and the United States, and has proven highly successful in targeting areas with specific needs, such as primary care shortages.
NZGSM applicants will need to achieve a minimum grade in the graduate medical school admissions test, which assesses applicants’ background knowledge of science, social science and written communication.
Under the four-year programme, all students will study for one year on the Waikato campus, in Hamilton, and do three years of clinical placements in regional and rural communities nationwide.
Asked if the new partnership would take potential medical students away from the Otago medical school, Prof Gibbons said the university had no problems securing enough applications.
At present, the Otago medical school had 361 students in Canterbury, the West Coast and Nelson/Marlborough, and that number was expected to increase to 426 by 2030.
It also had 263 students in Otago and Southland, which would increase to 318 by 2030, she said.
"And as we have previously highlighted, the only restriction on taking more has been the government cap on places due to the cost of training doctors."
Waikato vice-chancellor Prof Neil Quigley said the partnership would reduce barriers for graduates wanting to study medicine.
Ultimately, the intention was for graduates to continue to live and work as doctors in their home regional and rural communities, he said.
Canterbury’s Faculty of Health is also introducing a new online bachelor of health programme, along with a wide range of health-related programmes across multiple disciplines, to support students who may later pursue graduate-entry medical training.
The first intake of NZGSM students is expected in 2028.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said Cabinet approved the business case in July, and it would be funded by the government to the tune of $82.85 million, as well as receiving more than $150m from Waikato University and its philanthropic partners.
He said the graduate-entry programme would create "a more flexible pathway" into medicine, which would attract a broader range of students and support a stronger, more diverse workforce.
"From 2028, the Waikato medical school will train an additional 120 doctors each year, on top of the 100 extra places being added at Otago and Auckland between 2024 and 2026.
"Together, these initiatives will increase the number of New Zealand-trained doctors, improving access to timely care and strengthening primary care.
"A workforce trained in, and connected to, rural communities is essential to keeping people well, treating disease early and reducing long-term health impacts."
