What interview formats do the New Zealand medical schools use?

The University of Auckland uses a recorded online MMI of eight short stations, including one on Māori health and cultural safety. Otago interviews only applicants in its Alternative category, through a panel. Waikato's new graduate programme will interview for its first intake but has not yet published the format.

Do I need to know about Te Tiriti o Waitangi for my interview?

Yes. Auckland's recorded MMI includes a station on Māori health and cultural safety, and equity for Māori and Pacific peoples comes up across New Zealand interviews. Learn the principles of Te Tiriti in health care and prepare an example of adapting how you communicate with someone from a different background.

Do I need to prepare a "Why this university?" answer?

Yes. Even where it is not a station of its own, interviewers ask it inside motivation questions, and an answer that would fit any school scores poorly. In our guides, 2 of the 3 interviewing New Zealand medical schools list it as a question to expect. For each school, prepare specific reasons covering how it teaches, where it places students and why that suits you.

How many questions should I practise before my interview?

Aim for breadth before depth: at least two or three questions of every type in your plan, answered out loud and timed, then more on the types your schools test most. Rehearsing set answers word for word tends to backfire, because follow-up questions push past them. Working through many different questions of each type builds the flexibility assessors reward.

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What will your interviews ask?Practise the right questions for each medical school.

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Free · No sign-up · 3 New Zealand medical schools mapped · 621 questions in the bank

How it works

From your school list to a practice plan

Interviews differ far more between schools than most applicants expect. The planner reads what each of yours actually runs, so your practice time goes where the marks are.

1
Each school's real format: MMI, panel, traditional or recorded, with the station count, timings and when interviews run, from our research of each school’s published format.
2
The question types, ranked: every station mapped to a question type, then ranked across your schools so the types they all test come first.
3
Locked practice questions, then a mock: real questions from the question bank for every type you need to practise, and a mock built for each school.

Question types

The question types New Zealand medical schools test

Ranked by how many New Zealand medical schools test each one. Open a type to see what assessors look for and how to practise it.

Why medicine2/3

What they look for. A motivation for medicine that is specific, tested against real experience and honest about the downsides of the job.

How to practise. Rehearse a two-minute answer built on one or two moments you can talk about in detail, then stress-test it with "why not nursing?" follow-ups.

45 why medicine questions in the bank

Why this university2/3

What they look for. That you know how this school teaches and where it places students, and why that suits the way you learn.

How to practise. For each school, name its teaching style, one placement or pathway feature, and the reason it fits you. Generic answers that fit any school score poorly.

Health system & hot topics2/3

What they look for. Awareness of how New Zealand health care works (Health NZ, equity for Māori and Pacific peoples, rural access) and the issues in the news.

How to practise. Keep a running list of five current stories with a two-sided summary of each, and practise giving a balanced opinion in under two minutes.

128 health system & hot topics questions in the bank

Hauora Māori & cultural safety2/3

What they look for. Understanding of Māori health, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and equity for Māori and Pacific patients, and what culturally safe care means.

How to practise. Learn the principles of Te Tiriti in health and prepare an example of adapting how you communicate with someone from a different background.

33 hauora māori & cultural safety questions in the bank

Ethics & professionalism1/3

What they look for. Balanced reasoning through a dilemma: weighing both sides, applying the core principles and landing on a safe, justified decision.

How to practise. Practise talking through consent, confidentiality, capacity and resource allocation out loud, using a structure such as "identify, explore, decide, safeguard".

175 ethics & professionalism questions in the bank

Empathy & role play1/3

What they look for. Communication with an actor or patient: listening, acknowledging feelings, explaining clearly and agreeing a next step.

How to practise. Run timed role plays with a friend playing an upset patient, relative or colleague, and get marked on empathy as well as content.

66 empathy & role play questions in the bank

Teamwork & leadership1/3

What they look for. Evidence that you work well in a team, can lead when needed and handle conflict without blame.

How to practise. Prepare two STAR examples, one where you led and one where you followed, each ending with what you would do differently.

16 teamwork & leadership questions in the bank

Personal qualities & resilience1/3

What they look for. Self-awareness: your strengths and weaknesses, how you cope with pressure and failure, and whether you have the qualities of a good doctor.

How to practise. List three strengths and one genuine weakness with evidence for each, plus a setback you can reflect on without sounding rehearsed.

90 personal qualities & resilience questions in the bank

Your application1/3

What they look for. That everything you wrote is true and that you can talk about it in depth, including what you learned.

How to practise. Reread your application and prepare a follow-up answer for every activity, book or experience you mention.

Research & academic reasoning1/3

What they look for. Academic curiosity: how you approach research and evidence, and how you reason through an unfamiliar problem.

How to practise. Be ready to explain any research you have done in plain language: the question, your role, the result and what you would do next.

28 research & academic reasoning questions in the bank

Every school

Every New Zealand medical school's interview at a glance

Each school's format and the question types it tests most. Open a school's guide for timings and more example questions.

New Zealand3 schools

University of Auckland8 recorded responses · 3 min each
Personal qualities & resilienceHealth system & hot topicsWhy medicine+4
Guide
University of Otago6 themed questions · about 40 min
Why medicineEmpathy & role playHealth system & hot topics+4
Guide
University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of MedicineAdmissions interview (format not yet published)
Format not published yet

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Practise by question type rather than memorising answers. Almost every New Zealand medical school tests your motivation for medicine, ethical reasoning, communication and empathy, teamwork and your personal qualities, and most also ask why you chose that school and what you know about the health system and current issues. What changes from school to school is the mix and the format: Auckland uses a recorded online MMI with a station on Māori health, while Otago interviews only some of its applicants, through a panel. Choose your schools in the planner to see the exact mix for each one, with practice questions for every type.

Each school's format and station topics come from our research of its own admissions pages for the current cycle, the same research our university-specific mocks are built from. Where a school publishes its format but not its topics, the planner says so and shows the ground that kind of interview usually covers. Practice questions come from the interview question bank. Schools change details between cycles, so check your invitation for the final format.

NextGen MedPrep's interview question bank holds 621 medicine questions, 50 of them written for New Zealand interviews, each with an answer guide covering the approach, follow-up questions and the mark scheme. You can also sit a mock built for a specific school, with our AI interviewer, with a friend marking you against the official scheme, or with a tutor who sat the same interview, and there is a free six-station mock to start with.

Now practise the questions that count

Every question type in your plan is in the interview question bank, with follow-ups and a mark scheme for each. Start with a free mock, then work through the types your schools test most.

Explore the question bank Try a free mock Interview preparation

Reviewed by Isaac Butler-King, medical student at the University of Glasgow. Last reviewed: 14 September 2026 · Editorial policy