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The Government is set to examine the Māori and Pacific Admission Scheme (MAPAS) and its Otago counterpart to determine if they are delivering desired outcomes.
Under the coalition agreement between National and Act, the University of Auckland scheme which allocates a percentage of entries in the health faculty to Māori and Pasifika students will be looked into.
The University of Otago’s alternative category attracts academically qualified applicants with diverse life experiences, skills, and perspectives to the medical programme.
Otago’s Te Kauae Parāoa policy oversees domestic student admissions to the division of health sciences programmes, aiming to promote equity and improve health outcomes for under-represented groups.
From left, Dr Va'aiga Autagavaia, with Fa'anana Efeso Collins and Dr Collin Tukuitonga. Photo / Supplied
Dr Va’aiga Autagavaia, 38, of Vailoa, Palauli, Salelavalu, Faleasiu, Siumu, and Nofoalii works as a general practitioner at Turuki Health Care in Mangere, where he is also pursuing GP speciality training.
He was a Otago University graduate who came through a subcategory pathway, similar to the MAPAS programme at Auckland.
He believes the challenges faced by Pacific people today has roots in social injustice.
“That is the privilege Pacific people see in having the opportunity to attend university, where there is so much research out there that those political leaders willingly ignore every day that shows that inequities are caused by the same social injustices.
“So to be a part of a positive redemption or to serve in a way that our people readily recognise as a way of leadership, that is our calling as tautua.
“It is disheartening for them to ignore facts, ignore history, and ignore our plight as specific people in Aotearoa.
“But we don’t rely on them for who we are.
“For inspiration, we rely on our forebears, who came here seeking opportunities that they didn’t necessarily have.
“But they came because they saw their children and their grandchildren in the future and the world that was changing before them.”
Autagavaia is married to Dr Susan Reader, a general practitioner specialist from the villages of Faga who also completed the MAPAS at the University of Auckland.
“I was pleased to have gone to Kings College on a scholarship from 1999 to 2003. This was an opportunity that was given, and I’ve made the most of it.
“I think my journey has been understanding that programmes like that have a great impact on Pacific students financially and also academically.
“One government will say one thing, one will say another, but no matter what, we still have to do what we can.
The scores giving priority to Māori and Pacific Island patients will be confined to Auckland and Middlemore Hospitals, where many Northlanders have to undergo surgery. Photo / 123RF
“And if this opportunity is taken away, then our people are good enough to find opportunities to meet those needs.”
He says Maori and Pacific doctors will still serve their communities.
