Overview
The Otago Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPhty) degree is a prestigious four-year programme positioned at the cutting edge of physiotherapy education. It is internationally renowned for excellence, because the graduates it prepares for the profession are among the best in the field.
The academic year is from late February to November. The programme is of four years' duration with years 2 to 4 being undertaken at the School of Physiotherapy. In the first year students take the Health Sciences First Year course and in the majority of cases students are selected from this year.
Students who complete all the competencies of the four years of study are then eligible to apply for registration as a physiotherapist with the New Zealand Physiotherapy Board.
Division of class after third year
Clinical education teaching facilities for undergraduate Physiotherapy programmes are provided in the Dunedin, Christchurch and Wellington Clinical Centres and associated Clinical Hubs. After completion of the third year, the class will be divided and students allocated to one of the Clinical Centres or Clinical Hubs for the remainder of their programme. Students may also be required to complete their third year clinical training at one of the School's Clinical Centres.
In dividing the class, account will be taken of each student's personal preference as far as possible. However, if the number of applicants for entry to any Clinical Centre or Clinical Hub exceeds the number of places available, a ballot may be held to determine which students will be required to take a place in one of the other Centres or Hubs.
Honours students will normally be allocated to the Dunedin Centre. However, such students may be assigned to another Centre, or required to complete a component of their final year of clinical training at a location outside Dunedin at the discretion of the School. In determining the location, account will be taken of each student's personal preference as far as possible.
Physiotherapy at Otago: Hands-On Impact
See why Otago is the perfect place to kickstart your career in physiotherapy. Our Bachelor of Physiotherapy program is all about hands-on learning, community impact, and being at the forefront of healthcare innovation.
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Nā tōu rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi
Welcome to Aotearoa’s first school of Physiotherapy. Our kaupapa is reciprocity—using our hands to help people. When you do physiotherapy, you bring your background, whakapapa, and experiences into the programme. With our training, you’ll use your body, mind, and wairua—who you are—to rehabilitate people and help them move and live well.
From week six, our students are out in the community, at the hospital, at marae, learning alongside the treatment of real patients.
Learning is a mixture of lectures, labs, and self-guided study. Usually, we’ll have a lecture in the morning and then a lab that afternoon where we practise the techniques and apply the knowledge we gained earlier that day.
We’re a really tight group. We do lots of practising on one another. Our teachers are really amazing—they support us. We have whanaungatanga and get to know each other really well.
Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka – University of Otago is a world leader in physiotherapy, and our students are ready to go once they’re qualified.
The techniques and knowledge developed here have significantly impacted physiotherapy across the motu, across the Pacific, and indeed across the world.
We have world leaders in so many areas—women’s health, neurorehabilitation, musculoskeletal research, and injury prevention—and they’re collaborating with everyone from computer scientists to our mana whenua, to find and develop new firsts, and see those new firsts applied for the benefit of our people, right now.
Studying Physiotherapy has connected me to Ōtepoti Dunedin in ways I could never have expected. From getting welcomed at Ōtākou marae, to then helping with Taurite Tū—the elder care community kaupapa here—I’ve met so many amazing people and gotten to be part of people’s health improving, not just in the clinic but in a community setting too.
It’s really different to what I thought uni was going to be like. I’m seeing how I can make a real difference.
We empower our tauira with the skills and knowledge to be experts in physiotherapy. And as experts, we put that wero to them to work with our community, with our whānau—because we need to be answering our own health questions and finding our own firsts.
If that’s what you want to do, come and study Physiotherapy at Otago, Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka.
Programme details
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University jargon
Starting to research your study options and already feeling lost in the jargon? Here are some handy links for common terms you’re likely to come across.
- What’s a degree and how does it work?
- What’s a double degree?
- What’s a combined degree?
- Explore all terminology
Further study
We offer postgraduate opportunities tailored to your interests at Honours, Master's and PhD level.
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