What’s Health Sciences First Year at Otago?

Health Sciences First Year (HSFY) at Otago is the first year of study for students who wish to gain careers in healthcare – like becoming a doctor, dentist, pharmacist, or physiotherapist.

HSFY is a competitive course that covers subjects like chemistry, physics and calculus. We strongly recommend that you take these subjects in Year 13. As part of the course, you’ll be attending lectures, tutorials and labs – giving you a glimpse into where your degree can take you.

There are eight Health Science professional programmes you can apply to go into after taking HSFY at Otago:

• Medicine

• Dentistry

• Pharmacy

• Medical Laboratory Science

• Physiotherapy

• Dental Technology

• Oral Health

• Radiation Therapy

For Dental Technology, Oral Health, and Radiation Therapy, students can choose to enter the programmes straight after high school or through HSFY first. Getting accepted into the first five programmes on the list is based on your grades from HSFY, so if any of these sound like something you’d like to study make sure you’re choosing subjects in school like Science and Mathematics.

Health Sciences goes beyond HSFY. If you’re interested in Health Sciences but not the options we’ve listed, Biomedical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences or the Bachelor of Health Sciences degree also offer a variety of majors to choose from. You can find a more detailed list here: https://www.otago.ac.nz/healthsciences

If studying Health Sciences at Otago sounds like you, talking with your teachers or careers advisors is a good place to start. They’ll be able to give advice on which specific subjects at your school you should consider choosing for next year, and any extra support you can get in school or in the community.

Our Schools’ Liaison team also visit high schools across New Zealand to answer any questions you might have around HSFY or Health Sciences in general. It’s worth taking the time to chat to any of our liaison team who can give you advice on what to expect before making the trip down to Otago.

To find out more about Health Sciences First Year at University of Otago, visit https://www.otago.ac.nz/hsfy

*For more detailed information on the admission process, visit: https://www.otago.ac.nz/healthsciences

Image: University of Otago Medical Laboratory Science students

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