‘Collaborative’: Peace declared as Waikato medical school breaks duopoly

Thursday, 11 June 2026

Waikato University has reached an accord with Auckland and Otago universities over clinical training territories, clearing a key hurdle for the launch of its new medical school.

With construction of The New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine progressing at pace on the Hamilton campus, a gathering of university staff, ministers and stakeholders was held on Thursday to announce territorial details.

Waikato Hospital will be shared by Waikato and Auckland medical schools, while other parts of the country, such as New Plymouth, will be firmly the patch of Waikato students.

Waikato’s medical school will break the duopoly between Auckland and Otago’s medical schools when it opens in 2028.

Waikato Pro Vice-Chancellor of the Division of Health Professor Jo Lane alluded to a past lack of enthusiasm for the project, drawing a chuckle from the crowd.

“It’s fair to say that 12 months ago, collaborative was perhaps not the adjective I would have reached for to describe our relationship, but it is the one I use proudly today,” he said.

“We have had a number of very productive conversations about the operational details that will ensure successful and effective shared use of Waikato and Tauranga hospitals for both students and clinicians.'

The schools had also discussed transition arrangements for regions where there would be a change in the lead medical education provider, he said.

After spending the first year in Hamilton, students at the new medical school will go on clinical placements throughout the country, with a focus on rural and primary care.

Placements in the school’s home region would be based at Waikato Hospital, and at purpose-built community clinical learning centres in North Waikato, the Hauraki-Thames-Coromandel area, South Waikato, and the Waipā-King Country area.

Exactly which towns in Waikato were set to host a learning centre was not announced.

Lane told the Waikato Times the university was still working to finalise this, although in a presentation to the Waikato Regional Council last month, Tokoroa, Te Kūiti, Thames and Taupō were tipped as probable locations.

The location of other learning centres was clearer.

“In the Bay of Plenty we'll have students at Tauranga Hospital, with community clinical learning centres in the Western Bay and in Rotorua,” Lane said.

Elsewhere in the North Island, students would be placed at Taranaki Base Hospital, Whanganui Hospital, and Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hospital. There would be learning centres in New Plymouth, Whanganui, Hastings and Wairoa.

In the South Island, students would be placed at Nelson Hospital and Wairau Hospital, and at learning centres in Richmond and Blenheim.

A map presented at the gathering showed Waikato and Tauranga hospitals would share placements between both Auckland and Waikato medical schools.

Placements at Taranaki Base Hospital, Whanganui Hospital and Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hospital would be entirely for Waikato students.

The map also showed Nelson and Wairau hospitals would be solely for Waikato medical students. Lane said these were being supported by a partnership agreement with the University of Canterbury.

The training network was the solution to the country’s current medical workforce shortages, he said.

“It enables the three medical schools to collaborate to expand medical training nationwide, and that will ensure that more New Zealanders are able to enjoy quality, timely access to healthcare, which is the common goal of everyone gathered here today.”

Health Minister Simeon Brown praised the progress being made on the medical school, and said it would help develop a pipeline of homegrown doctors in the communities where they were most needed.

Representatives from Otago and Auckland also spoke in support.

University of Auckland Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences Dean Professor Warwick Bagg said the clinical placement agreement recognised collaboration was the best way forward.

“At its heart, this framework is about sharing, sharing clinical space, sharing responsibility, and sharing a commitment to the health of our communities.”

While there was now an important foundation, significant work needed to be done to increase clinical supervisory capacity, he warned.

This would require investment and support, but the purpose was to improve care for patients — improved health outcomes were “not an aspiration but an obligation”.