There would need to be a very good reason to justify this discrepancy.
Admission to Otago Medical School has a priority system. The basic requirements for entry include an average grade of 65%.
The assumption is that to pass the course students will need to be able to think and process information at this academic level.
Having reached this level priority is given to Māori, Pacific Islanders, those from a deprived area, those from a rural background, and refugees.
The basis for these affirmative action measures appears to be a combination of giving under-represented groups a hand up and an intention to provide more diverse access to medical advice.
The result for Māori is that (at least since 2019) Māori students represented 20.1% of all incoming medical students.
This is a higher proportion than the proportion of Māori in the population of New Zealand.
If you do not fit a priority group classification the grades required in the first round of offers in 2024 was over 96%.
When the first round dropouts were taken out the grades required were still over 90%.
There are issues with this system.
If the aim is to increase the number of medical students and therefore doctors from disadvantaged backgrounds the policy has failed.
While the numbers of these students have risen in the university as a whole, the numbers at medical school are stubbornly low, averaging around 2%.
The policy of increasing the proportion of Māori students at medical school has worked.
However it would appear that it is not Māori from disadvantaged backgrounds who are able to take advantage of this priority system.
There seems little effect of the policy helping Māori who have been colonised and therefore deeply disadvantaged.
There was talk about putting a cap on the numbers who are prioritised through the Māori pathway. This was met with dismay and alarm from Māori medical students.
The proposal to put a cap on was described as blatant racism. Students rightly pointed out that once admitted the exams and course in general was the same for all students.
There is no favouritism for Māori medical students once they have been admitted to the course.
On the other side of the argument those who do not qualify for priority entrance argue that to complete medical school the assumption already is that 65% average grade is sufficient: non-priority students should not require over 90%.
Another issue is that the priority categories are based on the race or environment of students before applying.
If the major reason for the discrimination is to increase the number of doctors in deprived areas, or of ethnically diverse backgrounds there appears to be no effort to establish whether the priority system is working to increase doctors of particular backgrounds after graduating.
Māori students applying need to complete a supporting statement explaining their understanding of the reasons for the Māori prioritised pathway.
They must also "describe your aspirations and commitment to make a positive contribution to Māori health now and in the future".
While the New Zealand Medical Council figures show Māori make up just 3.4% of all doctors in New Zealand, there seems no connection between accepting Māori with or without the commitment statement above and the number of Māori doctors.
In any case once Māori get into medical school why should they have to stay and practice among Māori communities rather than go overseas or wherever they wish?
This priority system also leads people to believe that Māori looking doctors are less able and only got through using a race card, which is unfair to the many highly competent Māori doctors.
If we want to increase the number of doctors in disadvantaged/Māori communities we might be better to incentivise graduates to practice in these areas.
If we want to give more Māori a chance to go to medical school more input at school level to increase their chances may be fairer.
If we want to increase the number of doctors who are able to give high-quality medical treatment to people who are not like them, we should already be addressing that through training.
This may not really be an issue for most of us in any case. Those born in New Zealand more than 20 years ago were mostly delivered by male doctors if a doctor was required.
It seems we can be effectively treated by those who cannot directly appreciate what it is like to be in our position.
If of course we also want more total doctor availability in New Zealand we might be better to concentrate on giving incentives to those who work fulltime.
If we train doctors who work part-time we will need to train twice as many.
• Hilary Calvert is a former Otago regional councillor, MP and Dunedin city councillor.
