Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 30, 2018 17:14:19 GMT 12
MAORI MEDICAL STUDENTS: 'IT WAS JUST BLATANT RACISM'
Māori students studying medicine at the University of Otago say they are fed up with the ignorance they face over the way they are selected into their second year of study.
There are limited spaces in the second-year programme and everyone in their first year has to reach a grade threshold.
But in a push to improve the diversity of the health work force, all Māori students who meet the minimum grade requirement, can identify their Māori heritage through whakapapa, and complete an essay showing their commitment to giving back to Māori communities, make it through.
It's known as the Māori Entry Pathway.
Once Māori students who have used the pathway make it into their second year of study, they are required to sit the same exams and reach the same standards to qualify as doctors like all other students.
Other students, who apply in the general pathway, compete for limited spaces and grades can become competitive.
Third-year medicine student Tiana Mihaere has been told on many occasions the Māori Entry Pathway is wrong and unfair.
"I remember being in the dining hall one time and some girl was having a moan about how unfair the pathway was and it was just real blatant, dumb-@r$e racism.
"But it is a big problem. Every Māori student that does Health Science will have experienced some form of racism during that year."
She said its a lack of understanding about the state of Māori health, and the need for Māori in the health work force that leads to attitudes like this.
Figures from the New Zealand Medical Council show Māori make up just 3.4% of all doctors in New Zealand.
Third year medicine student Nadine Houia-Ashwell said the Māori entry pathway existed to lift that....
www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/university-of-otago/maori-medical-students-it-was-just-blatant-racism
Māori students studying medicine at the University of Otago say they are fed up with the ignorance they face over the way they are selected into their second year of study.
There are limited spaces in the second-year programme and everyone in their first year has to reach a grade threshold.
But in a push to improve the diversity of the health work force, all Māori students who meet the minimum grade requirement, can identify their Māori heritage through whakapapa, and complete an essay showing their commitment to giving back to Māori communities, make it through.
It's known as the Māori Entry Pathway.
Once Māori students who have used the pathway make it into their second year of study, they are required to sit the same exams and reach the same standards to qualify as doctors like all other students.
Other students, who apply in the general pathway, compete for limited spaces and grades can become competitive.
Third-year medicine student Tiana Mihaere has been told on many occasions the Māori Entry Pathway is wrong and unfair.
"I remember being in the dining hall one time and some girl was having a moan about how unfair the pathway was and it was just real blatant, dumb-@r$e racism.
"But it is a big problem. Every Māori student that does Health Science will have experienced some form of racism during that year."
She said its a lack of understanding about the state of Māori health, and the need for Māori in the health work force that leads to attitudes like this.
Figures from the New Zealand Medical Council show Māori make up just 3.4% of all doctors in New Zealand.
Third year medicine student Nadine Houia-Ashwell said the Māori entry pathway existed to lift that....
www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/university-of-otago/maori-medical-students-it-was-just-blatant-racism