The New Zealand Medical Students' Association Incorporated (NZMSA) is the peak representative body for all medical students in New Zealand. The NZMSA executive is composed of representatives that are elected from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin medical schools. NZMSA represents medical students on many levels, from universities to government representation.
Membership Membership is open to students who are enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) degree at either the University of Otago or the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Presidents
The president is elected annually by the NZMSA Executive and holds the position for one year. Any member is eligible to run for the position of president.
Previous Presidents 2001: Richard Pole 2002: Cindy Towns 2003: Brandon Adams 2004: Jess Allen 2005: Jesse Gale 2006: Xaviour Walker 2007: Nick Fancourt 2008: Anna Dare 2009: William Perry 2010: Elizabeth Carr 2011: Oliver Hansby 2012: Michael Chen-Xu 2013: Phillip Chao 2014: Marise Stuart 2015: Elizabeth Berryman 2016: Mike Fleete 2017: Kieran Bunn 2018: Jibi Kunnethedam 2019: Fraser Jeffery 2020: Ellie Baxter 2021: Anu Kaw 2022: Anu Kaw 2023: Thomas Swinburn 2024: Indira Fernando 2025: Thomas Hartono Source:
Awards
NZMSA issues two awards per year to a nominated member of the association. The awards are the NZMSA President's Award for Individual Excellence and the NZMSA Award for Best New Student Initiative.
NZMSA President's Award for Individual Excellence This is awarded to "a student who makes an outstanding contribution to the medical student body, recognised for creative problem solving; inspiring their peers and others around them; and their energy and enthusiasm for medicine, education and their community".
Previous Recipients 2010: Sylvia Ross, University of Otago Christchurch School of Medicine 2011: Sudhvir Singh, University of Auckland
NZMSA Award for Best New Student Initiative This is awarded to "an individual or group of students who have started the most innovative and successful project for that preceding academic year".
Previous Recipients 2010: 11th Edition of the New Zealand Medical Student Journal (NZMSJ) 2011: Trainee Intern Anatomy, University of Otago
Annual conference Each year, the New Zealand Medical Students' Association holds a conference which brings together medical students from all around the country. The location of the conference varies from year to year. In 2011, the conference was held in Auckland.
NZMSA Sports Exchange The annual NZMSA Sports Exchange was established in 2010. Teams from each of the four medical schools in New Zealand compete in a variety of sports.
Previous winners 2010: The University of Otago, Dunedin 2011: The University of Auckland
New Zealand Medical Student Journal
History The New Zealand Medical Student Journal (NZMSJ), Te Hautaka o nga Akonga Rongoa, was initiated by a group of students at the Otago Medical School, publishing its first issue in 2004. The journal was launched by then Health Minister Annette King in March 2004, and the first editor was Ayesha Verrall. Later editors include John Scotter, Brian Grainger, Benson Chen, and Mariam Parwaiz. From 2010 the journal is published by the NZ Medical Student Journal Society, a registered charity. In 2011 the journal was awarded the NZMSA Award for Best New Student Initiative. The journal published its twentieth anniversary issue (issue number 38) in December 2024, in which editor Lorna Pairman described it as "one of the longest-running medical student journals internationally".
Aims The NZMSJ is an open access journal, with no publication charges, which is published by medical students. The journal's aims are to assist students to learn how to write for academic journals, to be a forum for medical student discussion at national and international levels, and to promote student research and academia. It is indexed by Google Scholar. A matched-cohort study reported in the NZMSJ showed that students who published in the NZMSJ were more likely to go on to earn a PhD, to publish in other peer-reviewed journals and to obtain academic positions.
See also Medical school
References
External links www.nzmsa.org.nz – New Zealand Medical Students' Association official website