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New Zealand Medicine · 2028 Entry

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) Medical School2028 Entry Requirements & Interview Format

Location Hamilton, New ZealandEstablished 2025Interviews (2028 entry) Not yet published — first intake is 2028, with applications opening mid-2027Decisions (2028 entry) Not yet published
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University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) medicine interview — tutor videos

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Full guide

How to get into University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) medicine

Step-by-step: entry requirements, admission-test prep, personal statement, interview format and the key deadlines.

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Overview

About University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)

The New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Waikato is a four-year graduate-entry Doctor of Medicine (MD) programme, taking its first intake of 120 students in 2028 with applications opening mid-2027.

Year 1 is spent at the Hamilton campus studying biomedical sciences and the social determinants of health through case-based learning, digital anatomy tools and multidisciplinary clinical simulation. Years 2-4 are spent based in one of five regions — Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki/Whanganui, Hawke's Bay, and Nelson/Marlborough — across regional hospitals, general practices, acute care providers and community health services.

The programme is designed to produce graduates who choose primary care specialties such as general practice, emergency medicine and psychiatry.

What makes University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) different

New Zealand's third medical school, and the first new one in 150 years. Three things make it structurally different from Auckland and Otago. It is graduate-entry only — there is no first-year gateway to compete through, so no HSFY and no Auckland First Year GPA race.

It uses GAMSAT rather than UCAT ANZ, which aligns it with the Australian graduate-entry system rather than the NZ undergraduate one, and makes it the only NZ medical school a GAMSAT candidate can apply to.

And it is explicitly built to produce primary-care doctors for rural and regional New Zealand: after a single year in Hamilton, students spend three full years based in regional communities rather than rotating out of a metropolitan teaching hospital.

The programme received Government approval in 2025 with $82.85 million in Crown funding alongside more than $150 million from the University and philanthropic partners, and its 120 places a year sit on top of the extra places being added at Auckland and Otago.

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) course & teaching

Case-based curriculum. 4-year graduate-entry MD. Year 1 at the University of Waikato Hamilton campus: biomedical sciences and the social determinants of health taught through a case-based learning framework with a digital-first pedagogy, including digital anatomy tools, reinforced by multidisciplinary clinical simulation in a purpose-built facility.

Years 2-4: a distributed clinical placement programme based in one of five regions, with students embedded in communities across hospital, primary care and other community health settings. Regions and their Health NZ hospital sites are Waikato (Waikato Hospital), Bay of Plenty (Tauranga Hospital), Taranaki/Whanganui (Taranaki Base and Whanganui Hospitals), Hawke's Bay (Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital) and Nelson/Marlborough.

First clinical placements begin in 2029.

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) research strengths

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) is strong in these research areas:

  • Primary care
  • Rural and regional health
  • Health workforce
  • Community health

How the University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) interview runs

Format: Admissions interview (format not yet published)

Waikato has confirmed that applicants who meet the degree and GAMSAT thresholds will be invited to admissions interviews, but has not yet published the interview format, station count, length or assessed domains.

The University states that the exact entry requirements and selection process will be published once the programme has gained accreditation, and that current information is indicative and subject to change. Treat every detail on this page as provisional until Waikato publishes its final admissions documentation, expected ahead of applications opening in mid-2027.

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) intake

An initial intake of 120 students a year from 2028. These are additional places, on top of the extra funded places being phased in at Auckland and Otago between 2024 and 2026.

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) at a glance

Founded in 2025. Based in Hamilton.

Programmes offered:

  • General Practice
  • Rural Medicine
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Psychiatry
  • Regional Health
Entry requirements

What you need to apply to University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)

Admission overview
Indicative and subject to change until accreditation is complete. Applicants must hold a bachelor's qualification, or be in their final year of study, with a B grade average. Graduates from all fields of study are eligible — there is no prescribed science degree and no prerequisite first-year course set. Applicants must also achieve a passing mark in GAMSAT (the Graduate Medical School Admissions Test, covering humanities and social sciences reasoning, written communication, and biological and physical sciences). Applicants who meet these thresholds are then invited to admissions interviews. Applicants indicate a preferred clinical placement region at the time of application. Applications open mid-2027 for a 2028 start.
GAMSAT
GAMSAT required — a passing mark, with the threshold not yet published. Waikato is the only NZ medical school using GAMSAT rather than UCAT ANZ.
GPA
A bachelor's qualification (or final year of study) with a B grade average. Graduates from all fields of study are eligible.
Prerequisites
No prescribed undergraduate subjects and no gateway first-year course set — any bachelor's degree at a B average is eligible. This is the key structural difference from Auckland and Otago, both of which require a specific first year of health sciences study before you can compete for a place.
Place types
120 places a year from 2028. The domestic/international split has not been published.
Bonded / rural
No bonded service obligation has been published. The programme is designed around rural and regional practice through its structure — three of the four years are based in regional communities — rather than through a contractual return-of-service requirement.
Specialities offered
General Practice, Rural Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Regional Health
Interview

How University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) interviews applicants

Format
Admissions interview (format not yet published)
Interview window (2028 entry)
Not yet published — first intake is 2028, with applications opening mid-2027
Decision date (2028 entry)
Not yet published
Post-interview chances
Not published — no admissions cycle has run yet.
Tutor insight
If you are a graduate, Waikato changes the shape of the NZ application map from 2028: it is the only New Zealand medical school that will take you without a gateway first year, and the only one that selects on GAMSAT. The practical planning point is that GAMSAT is the same test used by most Australian graduate-entry MD programmes, so one sitting can support a combined NZ-plus-Australia graduate strategy in a way UCAT ANZ never could. Do not, however, build a plan on the published detail yet: Waikato states plainly that its entry requirements and selection process are indicative until accreditation is complete, and no GAMSAT cut-off, GPA range or interview format has been released. Applications open mid-2027, so the concrete things to do now are finish your degree at a comfortable B average or better, decide whether GAMSAT fits your academic background, and watch for the final admissions documentation. If you are a school leaver, this does not change your 2027 or 2028 plans — you still need Otago HSFY or the Auckland gateway year.
Practice

Practise for your University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) interview

PrometheusQuestion Bank621 medicine questions inside

Interview questions matched to University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)

Two questions our tutors flagged as a strong fit for University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)’s interview style. Try answering them out loud, then open Prometheus for the model answers and follow-up tips.

MediumMMI · PanelQ1

Te Whare Tapa Whā — Four-Pillar Model in Practice

A Māori patient presents to your GP with recurrent headaches. Biomedical tests are normal. She mentions she has been grieving the death of an uncle, feels disconnected from her marae, and has been sleeping poorly. How would you apply Te Whare Tapa Whā to understand and address her situation?

Likely follow-up · Name and define the four dimensions of Te Whare Tapa Whā. How is this model different from a biopsychosocial model?

3 expert tips in Prometheus
MediumMMI · PanelQ2

NZ Ethics — Tikanga at the Bedside: Tapu and Clinical Protocols

A Māori patient's whānau has placed a small taonga (treasured item) and some woven flax near the patient's bed as part of their cultural practice around illness. A nurse tells you these need to be removed because they are in violation of the infection control policy. The patient is distressed at the idea of removing them.

How do you approach this situation?

Likely follow-up · What is tapu in a clinical context, and how should it inform hospital policy?

3 expert tips in Prometheus
Open Prometheus for University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)Browse 1,106 free questions →
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Sources

Where University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD)'s figures come from

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) — official course page →Entry requirements, interview format and deadlines published by the school itself. The primary source for everything on this page.
FAQ

University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) — frequently asked questions

GAMSAT: GAMSAT required — a passing mark, with the threshold not yet published. Waikato is the only NZ medical school using GAMSAT rather than UCAT ANZ. UCAT ANZ is NOT used. Waikato is the only New Zealand medical school that selects on GAMSAT, which matters if you are weighing NZ against Australian graduate-entry programmes — the same GAMSAT sitting can support applications on both sides of the Tasman. No GAMSAT cut-off score has been published; Waikato describes the requirement as achieving a passing mark, with the final threshold to be confirmed alongside the rest of the selection process.

Apply to University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) with confidence

We've helped students turn their UCAT, personal statement and interview prep into offers from University of Waikato — New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine (MD) and other New Zealand medicine schools.

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