Rate My Professor Suzanne Pitama

Professor Suzanne Pitama (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whare) is a registered educational psychologist and full professor serving as Dean and Head of Campus at the University of Otago, Christchurch, and Dean of the Otago Medical School within the Division of Health Sciences. She began her academic career at the University of Otago in 2001 as a lecturer in Psychology at the Christchurch campus. Over 24 years, she advanced through roles including Senior Lecturer, Associate Dean Māori, Director of the Māori/Indigenous Health Innovation (MIHI) institute, and Associate Professor. She completed her PhD in 2013 from the University of Otago—the first focused on Indigenous medical health education—titled 'As natural as learning pathology: the design, implementation and impact of indigenous health curricula within medical schools,' while working full-time. Her qualifications include a PhD, MA (Hons), and PGDipEdPsych. Pitama has held governance positions on the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Australian Medical Council (inaugural Chair of the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori Standing Committee), Medical Council of New Zealand, and MBChB curriculum committee, where she chaired the Hauora Māori sub-committee.

Pitama's research specializations center on Māori health inequities, Indigenous medical education, patient experiences in health systems, mental health, perinatal care, and end-of-life services. Key publications include 'Meihana Model: A Clinical Assessment Framework' (2007), 'Implementation and impact of indigenous health curricula: a systematic review' (2018), and 'Reported Māori consumer experiences of health systems and programs in qualitative research: a systematic review with meta-synthesis' (2019), contributing to over 3,400 citations. She has influenced medical curricula through frameworks like the Meihana Model and CDAMS Indigenous Health Curriculum, and represented the University of Otago in the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) Reference Group, fostering international communities of practice. Major awards encompass the AKO Aotearoa Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence (2015), Dame Joan Metge Medal (2018) for Indigenous medical education research, Dame Marie Clay Award (2023), and inaugural LIME Lifetime Achievement Award (2023). As co-editor of the New Zealand Medical Journal and special editor for The Clinical Teacher (2021) on culture and diversity, she advances equity in health professional education.