Rate My Professor Samantha Feeney

Samantha Feeney is the Director of Raukaha, the Māori Health Workforce Development Unit (MHWDU), and a Professional Practice Fellow serving as Kairuruku Ritenga Utua in the Health Sciences Division at the University of Otago. A descendant from Te Tai Tokerau of Te Rarawa iwi and Ngāti Moroki hapū, she possesses a robust background in education, teaching and learning, and sport and exercise science. Her professional journey is marked by a deep commitment to youth empowerment, Māori development, and generating equitable health and education outcomes for Māori students and their whānau, as well as students from lower socioeconomic communities entering tertiary health science studies. Feeney manages the MHWDU team, which operates within the Kōhatu Centre for Hauora Māori, and supports transformative initiatives to enhance the Māori health workforce across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Feeney earned her Bachelor of Physical Education in Sport and Exercise Science and a Master of Teaching and Learning from the University of Otago. She oversees critical programmes such as the Socioeconomic Equity Project (EQ), Tū Tauira Hauora for support in BSc, BHealSc, and health professional programmes, Te Whakapuāwai for first-year health sciences students, Te Ara Hauora for secondary school outreach, and Kahikatea for health sciences transition. Previously, from 2015 to 2022, she coordinated the Tū Kahika culturally responsive foundation year scholarship programme. In addition, she collaborates on curriculum design and delivers lectures in Hauora Māori subjects, including Hauora Māori in Practice: Working with Individuals and Whānau, within the Bachelor of Health Sciences and programmes at the Dunedin School of Medicine. Feeney co-authored the 2024 peer-reviewed article 'Holding a mirror to society? The socio-demographic characteristics of students commencing health professional programmes and all courses at Otakou Whakaihu Waka, the University of Otago, 1994–2023' in the New Zealand Medical Journal, analysing long-term trends in health professional student demographics. Her leadership contributes significantly to increasing Māori representation and success in health professions, fostering a workforce that better reflects and serves Māori communities.