CGHS – Powered by CareerWise
Waikato University PROPOSED SCHOOL OF MEDICINE INFORMATION
School of Health Medical School Update, February 2024
The University of Waikato and Ministry of Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a third New Zealand medical school in the Waikato region. The University is now working with the Government on the next steps in establishing the medical school, including a business case, with a view to the first intake of 120 students starting in early 2027.
How can students best prepare for a pathway in Medicine with the University of Waikato?
• The intended eligibility for student to apply will be a Bachelor’s degree (likely with a minimum GPA). This is a threshold requirement. All students that meet the threshold requirement will then be assessed based on a range of factors to determine which students will be invited to interview. To do so, each factor will be allocated a certain number of “points” so they can be combined to create an initial ranked list of students.
• One of these factors is likely to be a “broad academic background (e.g. minimum of 60 credit points of science background plus a minimum of 60 credit points of humanities/arts/social science background)”.
If prospective students are wanting advice about “ideal preparation” to enter Waikato’s proposed medical programme in the future, we recommended the following:
• Bachelor of Health with a major in Biomedical Sciences
• Bachelor of Health with a major in Health Promotion and a minor (or second major) in Biomedical Sciences
• Bachelor of Science with a major in Biomedical Sciences and a minor (or second major) in Health Promotion.
• Bachelor of Nursing
• The background in humanities/arts/social science is still to be determined
