Kia ora e te whānau, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.
At the New Zealand Medical Students' Association (NZMSA), we know that financial stress and hardship are a daily reality for many medical tauira. We hear it from our peers every year, and we feel it ourselves as tauira.
Food insecurity is only one part of a much bigger challenge, but in the context of rising living costs, we believe this is an important place to start creating meaningful change.
📊 What we heard in last year’s NZMSA National Survey (n = 330):
Financial stress was one of the most common challenges faced by medical tauira. Many reported difficulty meeting basic living costs, including:
- Healthcare (16%)
- Food (16%)
- Essential travel/transport to university and to see whānau (15%)
- Household bills (15%)
Many tauira shared that greater financial support, especially
access to free food during clinical placements, would significantly improve hauora and mental wellbeing.
📣 That’s why NZMSA is launching the Fuel the Future Workforce Campaign from 4 May (Monday-Friday) across regional sites around the motu.
During this week, we want to hear your voice on:
- How food insecurity and financial hardship affect tauira
- Whether Years 4-6 medical students should receive free lunches during clinical placements
- How free lunches should be implemented
- What impact free lunches would have on your learning, well-being, and placement experience
🧠 How your responses will be used:
The insights gathered will be used by rangatira from NZMSA and shared with rangatira of Te Oranga and our affiliated student associations (Auckland, Otago, Dunedin, Christchurch, and Wellington Medical Students' Associations) to advocate and negotiate for a brighter future with our medical schools, Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, the Tertiary Education Commission, and other key stakeholders.
📩 Questions or concerns?
Please contact Sujean In, Vice President of Advocacy, NZMSA at vpadvocacy@nzmsa.org.nz
