Father who took University of Otago medical school to court has 'no regrets'

Wednesday, 14 October 2020

A parent who took the University of Otago to court over its medical school selection process believes it created “good, robust” debate about the lack of transparency for prospective students.

The North Island man, whose name was suppressed by the High Court, alleged in a civil case against the university the Mirror on Society admissions scheme was “misleading and deceptive”, and acted against the Education Act.

It was put in place to boost Māori, Pasifika, refugee, rural and low socio-economic medical student numbers – groups underrepresented in the health sector.

The case was dropped this week, and the man behind it told Stuff in an exclusive interview he had no regrets and trusted the university would be “true to their word” in creating more transparency.

**READ MORE:

* Otago medical school admissions case settled out of court

* Otago Uni accused of being ‘deceptive’ about medical school admissions policy

* Otago Uni will fight legal challenge to its med school special entry scheme

**

The student’s father said dropping the case was “common sense” after assurances were given the university would look at its selection process..

“People only see it from their side of the ledger, and haven’t really put themselves in the shoes of students who turn up on day one,” he said.

The settlement caused a collective sigh of relief from Māori doctors and academics, who felt hurt and distress at the threat to the equity policy.

This year, 120 of the 202 places available to first-year Health Sciences students went to those entering under special categories. Of those, 79 (39 per cent) were Māori and Pasifika. There is currently no limit to the proportion of the places available for special category students.

The student at the heart of the court case, who did not fit a special category, was denied entry to the Otago medical programme, despite their results translating into an average of more than 92 per cent.

Te Ora Māori Medical Practitioners chairman Professor David Tipene-Leach says the university was “duplicitous” in its closed door discussions about any changes to its equity policy.

Te Ora hired a “high-powered QC” three weeks ago to become a respondent in the court proceedings after “watching with horror as this thing was unfolding”.

The move gave it the ability to appeal the potential outcome.

Tipene-Leach said he would follow the 2021 review process “very, very carefully” to make sure the Mirror on Society policy survived.

Equity plans needed to be “working at full-bore all the time”, he said, and it did not take much to turn around all the good work that had been done.

“I think it’s a bit of a wake-up call,” said Tipene-Leach. “Sometimes you think things are progressing well, but then you have a head of school and Vice Chancellor, neither of whom are Kiwis, for whom this policy may not be ringing true.”

Associate Dean for Māori Health and admissions committee member Professor Jo Baxter, speaking out for the first time since the medical school hit the headlines, said threats to Otago’s equity policy had been “concerning and distressing because we know what’s at stake”.

“The last two months have been an incredibly important and challenging time for both Māori academic leadership within the university, but also for Māori health,” said Baxter.

It’s taken a lot of time and energy to navigate through how best to support the institution, said Baxter, to support the students, staff, and others concerned about the case and impending review.

She was pleased a resolution was reached in the court case, and welcomed the university’s commitment to respectful consultation and partnership with Māori, Pasifika and other parties.

Baxter said the experience had brought “in to quite sharp focus” the need to look closely at institutional values, and find ways to work better in partnership, particularly on the upcoming review.

“The challenge over the last couple of months has been that we have greatly seen the opportunity to grow and develop the Māori workforce across all professional programmes,” she said.

“Any threats to that have obviously been concerning and distressing for us.”

The student’s father said dropping the case was “common sense” after assurances were given the university would look at its selection process, and address any lack of transparency so students “know what they’re in for”.

“I would do it again tomorrow, if I had to,” he said. The man was not concerned about Te Ora joining the legal challenge and it did not have any influence on his decision to settle the case.

He agreed there needed to be better health outcomes for all, and “some people are being left behind” in the health system, but said it was not what the court case was about.

“There’s benefit for everybody in making it more transparent,” he said.

He would be watching what happens in the 2021 review to make that happen. “I just trust that they’re going to be true to their word.”

In a joint statement released on Monday, the two parties said the man received no compensation and the university made no commitment to change its admissions process or “the outcome of any individual’s application for admission”.

A University of Otago spokeswoman refused to comment on other parties’ involvement in the court case, due to the out-of-court agreement.

The policy review process would only become clear once it had consulted with stakeholders “on the way in which conversations will now be undertaken”.

Professor Peter Crampton, a former dean of the Otago medical school and now Kōhatu professor of public health, welcomed the chance to move on from the legal challenge.

“If New Zealand wants to have a future which is different from and better than the past in terms of health of all our communities, we need to conduct ourselves as a society a bit differently,” said Crampton.

“It’s not about the privileged few getting into courses like medical school, it’s about broadening that out.”