The two New Zealand medical schools, Auckland
and Otago,
style their degrees as MB ChB. The New Zealand MB ChB degrees take at
least 6 years after commencing university study depending upon graduate or
undergraduate entry.
University of Auckland, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine
University of Auckland, Faculty of Medical and
Health Sciences
The University of Auckland's Faculty of Medical and
Health Sciences (formerly known as The University of Auckland School of
Medicine.) was established in 1968 at its present site in Grafton, Auckland.
Prior to this, the University of Otago had taught some students from the final
years of its medical course in Auckland through a branch faculty of the Dunedin
School of Medicine.
Location
All undergraduate students "combined first year" which is largely based on the
city campus, but from that time on, almost all class room teaching is done in
Grafton.
The pre-clinical building is on the opposite side of Park road to Auckland
Hospital in Grafton, beside the Auckland Domain. The name of the building
reflects the historical pre-dominance of medicine within the faculty - the three
years before a medicine student begins doing their 'rounds' (practical in
hospitals) are known as the 'pre-clinical' years.
Degrees
The faculty is perhaps best known for its medicine programme. The University
offers 150 (200 in 2008) places per year in this six year programme to New
Zealand and Australian residents, 20 of which are reserved for rural entry
students and a similar number for maori and Pacific Islanders. These students
pay fees of around NZ$12,000 per annum, which meets 1/4 to 1/3rd of the cost of
their degrees. An additional 10-20 places per year are filled by full fee paying
international students, usually from North America or the Middle East. Thirty
places in clinical years of the programme are given to students from Malaysia,
who are funded by their government. Formerly the faculty offered the Bachelor of
Human Biology and the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.Ch.B).
Since 2005, this was altered and now prospective doctors study for six years to
only gain the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, which is the same
recognised programme for trained Doctors to be working in New Zealand.
In addition to this degree the faculty offers other undergraduate (bachelor)
degrees which include Bachelor of Optometry, Bachelor of Health Science,
Bachelor of Pharmacy, Bachelor of Nursing and Bachelor of Biomedical Science
(jointly with the University of Auckland Faculty of Science).
A wide range of Post-graduate programmes are also offered, up to the doctorate
level (PhD, MD).
The faculty is accredited by the Australasian Medical Council.
Structure
The faculty is headed by a Dean, Professor Iain Martin, responsible to the Vice
Chancellor of the University of Auckland, and is assisted by a Deputy Dean,
Heads of Schools, Associate Research, Education and Academic Deans and a
Director of Administration. The faculty is funded by Government and student
fees, however there is some commercial funding for research. The Faculty is
organised into five 'Schools';
School of Medical Sciences
The School of Medical Sciences includes departments of Anatomy with Radiology,
Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, Biomedical Imaging Research Unit,
Molecular Medicine & Pathology, Nutrition, Oncology, Physiology, and
Pharmacology.
School of Medicine
The similarly named School of Medicine includes Anaesthesiology, Auckland
Clinical School, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics,
Psychological Medicine, South Auckland Clinical School, Surgery, Waikato
Clinical School
School of Population Health
The School of Population Health, is primarily located at Tamaki, unlike the
other Grafton based divisions of the Faculty. It includes, Audiology, Centre for
Asian Health, Research and Evaluation, Centre for Health Services Research and
Policy, Clinical Trials Research Unit, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, General
Practice and Primary Health Care, Goodfellow unit, Health Research Methods
Advisory Service, Health systems, Injury prevention research centre,
Immunisation Advisory Centre, Pacific Health, Primary care, Social & Community
health, Survey Research Unit, Te Kupenga Hauora Māori, and the Tōmaiora Māori
Health Research Group
School of Nursing, (primarily concerned with vocational training)
School of Pharmacy, (primarily concerned with vocational training)
In addition to these, the faculty also includes the Liggins Institute, which
conducts medical research, the Bioengineering Institute, Goodfellow 'Club',
Centre for Evidence Based Nursing Aotearoa, Advanced Clinical Skills Centre and
two "support units", Faculty Administration and Faculty Support Services.
Research
The Faculty possesses the only brain bank in New Zealand. This brain bank
contains over 400 brains bequeathed to the medical school2, these include those
from people who suffer neurological diseases such as Huntington's disease and
Parkinson's disease.
University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine
The Dunedin School of Medicine is one of three
medical schools that make up the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago.
All Otago University medical students who gain entry after a first year "Health
Sciences" program, or who gain graduate entry spend their second and third years
studying in Dunedin at the school of medicine. In their fourth and fifth years,
medical students can either continue to study in Dunedin, or at the Christchurch
or Wellington Schools of Medicine.
Faculty of Medicine
The title Faculty of Medicine currently applies to an administrative Unit of the
Division of Health Sciences which includes the Christchurch, Dunedin, and
Wellington Medical Schools and the Otago School of Medical Sciences (which
comprises departments of Anatomy & Structural Biology, Biochemistry,
Microbiology & Immunology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Physiology). Other
faculties and schools within the Division of Health Sciences are Dentistry,
Pharmacy, and Physiotherapy.
Departments
The Dunedin School of Medicine is structured into six departments with a number
of sub-units: General Practice, Medical and Surgical Sciences (Anaesthesia &
Intensive Care, Bioethics Centre, Medicine, Sports Medicine, Orthopaedic
Surgery, Ophthalmology, Surgery), Pathology, Preventive & Social Medicine,
Psychological Medicine, and Women's and Children's Health (Obstetrics &
Gynaecology, Paediatrics & Child Health). Additional disciplines are taught in
Christchurch and Wellington.
