Research undertaken by Harris et al. (2006; 2006a; 2012) and Paradies, Harris & Anderson (2008) has provided evidence of the effects of bias and racism on the health outcomes of the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia (see also van Ryn 2016 in reference to the United States). However, little has been written on the design, development and implementation of medical curricula that includes the study of the impact of bias and racism on Indigenous patients, families and communities.
At the Otago Medical School, the content for Years 1–3 of the Indigenous health (Hauora Māori) curriculum uses specific socio-political content to present Indigenous health status, disparities and maintenance of inequities through a decolonised perspective. As a result, students later allocated to one of the three Otago clinical schools for Years 4–6 have already been presented with two specific Indigenous health models – the Hui Process and the Meihana Model (Lacey et al. 2010; Pitama, Huria & Lacey 2014). The purpose of this paper is to document how teaching about the impacts of bias and racism on health has been delivered and assessed at the Otago Medical School (Christchurch campus).
