Enrolling and studying in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery

Please note, the information on this page is specific to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB).

You will also additional information about your studies from your lecturers and/or tutors.

Please bookmark this page. You will need to come back to it multiple times. 

Accepting your offer

If you receive an offer into the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme, don't forget to accept your offer by the deadline. 

Important

  • Your offer is only valid for 2024 entry into the MBChB programme
  • You cannot defer your offer to another year
  • You must decline your offer if you cannot start the MBChB in 2024
  • You must attend all scheduled activities in week one of the MBChB (19 - 23 February 2024)
  • If you do not attend your first week, your place in the programme will be forfeited and offered to another applicant on the waitlist

If you decline your offer, you may be eligible to reapply for a future intake.

For more information, please carefully read the MBChB entry requirements at Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.

Enrolling into your courses

What to enrol into

After you accept your offer of place, you will need to enrol in both semesters of your academic year. You will complete MBCHB 221A/B: MBChB Part II.

MBCHB 221 is a double-semester (A and B) course. 

Semester Course Points
Semester One MBCHB 221A 60 points
Semester Two MBCHB 221B 60 points

You can find a detailed description of what you will learn in Year 2 in the Year 2 Guidebook on the MBChB portal.

Please note that the 2024 guidebook hasn't been published yet, but the information will largely be similar to the 2023 Guidebook.

How to enrol

If you want to know more about enrolling in your courses, please see:

Course credits

Completed study at the University of Auckland

If you've completed study at the University of Auckland, your courses will be reassigned by the University where appropriate. You do not need to do anything and are not expected to pay any fees.

Completed study at another university

If you've completed your studies at a university other than the University of Auckland, you need to apply for an external transfer.

You must apply to have your first-year courses credited to your clinical programme.

To complete this process, you will need complete the External Credit Transfer Application Form - Prior Study (AS-14).

Please note a fee of $85 will be charged for the credit transfer. The fee will be added to your account on Student Services Online (SSO). 

For more information, please see External transfer of credit.

Fitness to practise and child safety

As a MBChB student, you must meet the fitness to practise and child safety requirements.

To start the process, please complete and submit the MBChB Year 2 Entrance Safety Check and Fitness to Practise Form.

Due: 28 January 2024

For more information about what fitness to practise and child safety mean, and why you need to meet these requirements, please see: 

Immunisation requirements

As a MBChB student, you must be fully immunised to complete the requirements of the programme.

Important dates

The MBChB programme has different dates to the University's semester dates. It's important that you read this information carefully to know when things are happening during the year. 

Please add these dates to your personal diary or calendar.

Orientation

As a new student, you are expected to attend the orientation for your clinical programme. 

Programme orientation

  • Date: Monday 19 February 2024
  • Location: 505-011, Grafton Campus

To begin your studies, you must be in Auckland for the start of orientation. 

The MBChB programme is not offered online. 

Semester dates

During Year 2 of the MBChB programme, you must be available for all teaching and learning activities throughout your programme.

The MBChB is completed in-person. While some course components are available online, many course components require compulsory in-person attendance. 

The timetable is unable to accommodate individual student preferences.

You should add the dates mentioned below to your personal calendar.

Programme begins 19 February 2024
Mid-Semester break (includes Easter) 29 March - 12 April 2024
ANZAC Day 25 April 2024
King's Birthday 3 June 2024
Inter-semester break (includes Matariki) 24 June - 5 July 2024
Māori Health Intensive* 8 - 11 July 2024
Semester Two begins 15 July 2024
Mid-semester break 26 August - 6 September 2024
Labour Day 28 October 2024
Semester Two ends 11 November 2024

*Attendance is required at this teaching activity that takes place during the University's standard inter-semester break. 

Timetable

Your confirmed timetable will be published in mid February. This will include any required programme activities in addition to your coursework. 

You can access the MBChB Phase 1 Online Timetable through the MBChB Portal. For further details, please visit the Phase 1 (Year 2 & 3) page.

You should ignore the timetable which is published on SSO. 

Week one of Year 2

Key things to know: 

  • You must attend all scheduled activities week one of the MBChB
  • If you do not attend your first week, your place in the programme will be forfeited and offered to another applicant on the waitlist
  • You will learn more about key assessments and activities during the first week of class

Progress Tests

You will have progress tests on these dates:

  • Friday 12 April 2024
  • Friday 12 July 2024*
  • Monday 21 October 2024

These are written assessments that assess the information you have learnt during your studies. These progress tests are compulsory, so you must complete them. You will find more information out about your progress tests in your first week of the programme. 

*Attendance is required at this test which takes place during the University's standard inter-semester break. 

Māori Health Intensive

As a Year 2 MBChB student, you are required to participate in a Māori Health Intensive (MHI) week. This is a compulsory part of your programme. 

You must attend all days of MHI week. 

Please note that the MHI week occurs during the inter-semester break.

For more information, please see:

Studying outside of Auckland

As you continue your programme, you will spend some time outside of Auckland on clinical placements.

For further information on the Student Allocation Policy, please read Section 3 of the Academic & Programme-related Policies information.  

This is located in the MBChB Portal.

This will typically happen in your: 

  • Fourth year
  • Fifth year
  • Sixth year

This will be a combination of: 

  • Short-term general practice placements
  • Year-long placements in one of eight hospitals in the upper North Island

You are going to spend one full clinical year outside of Auckland. 

Please note: 

  • If there are not enough students who volunteer for out of Auckland placements, we use a ballot system to assign students to placements. Once you're assigned a placement, you cannot change your placement.

More information about clinical placements will be given during week one of your programme. 

Academic preparation

You may wish to refresh yourself on some of the First Year content, if you: 

  • Are entering the MBChB as a graduate applicant
  • Didn't complete your undergraduate studies at the University of Auckland

Information technology (IT) requirements

To study the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, you must have access to a laptop or desktop computer to complete your course requirements. 

For more information, please see:

Scholarships

If you're a student experiencing financial hardship or need, you may be able to apply for the Casement Aickin Memorial Award.

  • Applications open 11 January 2024
  • Applications close 22 February 2024

Other scholarships

There may be other scholarships that you can apply for as a student with the University of Auckland. 

For more information, please see Scholarships and awards.

Rural stream

If you're interested in joining the rural stream, please complete the invitation to join the rural stream form. 

The rural stream is designed to give students interested in rural medicine the opportunity to do a placement that centres around rural communities and their medical needs. 

Clubs and societies

Auckland University Medical Students' Association

If you've received an offer into the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, you're invited to join the Auckland University Medical Students’ Association (AUMSA).

Grassroots Rural Health Club

If you're particularly interested in working in rural health, you could join the Grassroots Rural Health Club.

There are a range of other resources you can use as a medical student. These are: 

  • Clubs and societies

Disclaimer

Please make sure to read the disclaimer for joining the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programme.

Additional questions

If you have additional questions enrolling into and studying the MBChB programme, please email fmhs@auckland.ac.nz.