University of Otago Student Health

I don't get why the reviews here are so low, just because it's a clinic and you go there because of something that's making you feel bad doesn't mean that it's a poor institution. A public Healthcare service is fundamentally different than something like a pub or tattoo parlor.Firstly the staff are all nice enough, including reception which is a fairly boring/draining position. I'm a visible minority and an international student and genderqueer, if there was any discrimination I'd notice it, but nope nothing.Wait and reservation times during busy periods can go for weeks to maybe two months depending on the specialization of what you're requesting, but this is a pretty good speed if you compare with public Healthcare elsewhere in other countries etc. And for anything that can be done at walk-in, yeah the pace is great.In terms of the actual healthcare, everyone makes it a comfortable environment, which in of itself makes any treatment procedures discussion etc easier. Staff are also willing to accommodate and speed up processes avoid road bumps etc to make the service more efficient faster logical you get the idea. Glad to see people aren't bending over backward to follow healthcare beauracracy when it doesn't make sense. It's not like you have surgery or anything precise here, so there aren't really measures of procedure quality that can be used as points of detriment for here. I could not get one of my medications I got prescribed for back home, but it's simpmy not legally produced in New Zealand that's out of their hands. For mental health psychiatrist therapy etc it's more subjective what your experience is, but I didn't have any issues with my appointment. Can't speak for others obviously, but even if you felt you had or it just was a poor session, it is not reflective of all the collective services here.TLDR yall trippin, this is a good service. Would like to see people try out healthcare clinics in USA or Germany or heaven forbid a developing country.

useless. so hard to make an appointment. i thought routine appointment, like monthly appointment, is fixed and you do not have to tell the receptionist every time BUT I THOUGHT WRONG. appointments are always UNavailable EVERY TIME and they always say the earliest is next 2-3 weeks". it's like you have to predict when you will fall sick so you can make an appointment 2 weeks earlier before you're actually sick. i don't understand why there's some ppl in the review said it's easy to make an appointment and always available in the same day/week bcs that's definitely the opposite of what i experienced.funny thing was my doctor asked me to make an appointment in 2-weeks time but the receptionist said i can only make an appointment the next 3 weeks... why? supposedly if the doctor said i can make an appointment in 2 weeks then it surely means he's free on that time.not to mention the receptionist was being passive aggressively rude acting as if i did not understand english. duh just bcs im NOT white doesn't mean i don't understand english."

Just tried to get a mental health appointment for a relative and he needed to give consent. Fair enough...he was right beside me. BUT they only do appointments ON THE DAY. Absolutely useless service. I was calling, within consent and so it would be done. Really really important that I could secure an appointmemt for/with him. What possible reason could there be for this inflexible system? NOT GOOD ENOUGH AT ALL.EDIT: I was contacted following my email of complaint and an appointment made and an apology given. I was then rung in the evening to follow up. That was both empathetic and professional. However, mental health needs to be treated much more urgently. I was really stressed and the receptionist should have passed me onto a medical professional.

I had a throat infection. They refused to see me IRL to test what it was, but they prescribed me antibiotics anyway. Those did nothing because I later found out it wasn't bacterial. What good is a health service that refuses to see you in real life despite having a negative covid test?

My prescription keeps getting filled out wrong, one of the doctors is really judgmental and patronizing when talking about my management of chronic illness, and the psychiatrist I saw was very unfriendly and rude. The receptionists have also been rude and inattentive on some of my visits. Only good thing is that it's cheap. If I could afford to go somewhere else I would.

Edit - 5 stars for the nurses, saw Nurse Finn and he was amazing, very attentive, helpful, patient, and kind, and gave me plenty of options. Highly recommend him!However 1 star for the mental health team - are inattentive, they would dismiss my worries and then immediately said don't hesitate to come back if things get worse." As if it isn't the 5th time I had been in there to see someone in the past 2 months. Waste of time and money."

Their psychiatrist is actually useless. Didn’t seem to have even read my file and after the appointment I have waited months for - got no progress at all as she told me to go fend for myself.If you need any mental health services from Student Health, you are better off borrowing money so you can go through the hospital. At least the hospital staff will try to listen to you.This isn’t even mentioning that they cut off your access to all resources online if you haven’t paid them. Disgusting treatment considering my situation. Sure makes your mental health better to be unable to get a job because you can’t communicate your schedule with a potential employer.

Im an international student looking to get a prescription for a medication. Although I have severe pre existing condition, the doc would not prescribe me my medicine. Never ever experienced something like that. Thinking of filing a lawsuit.

Needed a doctors certificate to apply for an internal impairment for school.The nurse said i called the wrong place and that i need to fill out a form on the uni website. I told her that was wrong as i had been told by my department office and course coordinator that i needed a medical certificate and that i want a medical certificate for being sick over the past 6 months.The nurse continued to tell me i was wrong and then when i finally convinced her that i needed the medical certificate she wrote “i reported i was sick for 6 months which affected my ability to go to school and labs.”Like, WHAT! If you looked at my medical records you would see that that is congruent with my claims ! She didnt put any evidence as to why i came in or notes supporting it.The unprofessionalism and attitude i got from her was unbelievable.I wish student health was better.

My partner went and saw Dr Margret Charles and asked for a general blood test for his heart. Dr Charles denied him of this blood test as there was no “cause for concern” and didn’t want to waste resources on him. My partner wanted these blood tests done before getting the vaccine as his father had heart complications and didn’t he want any adverse affects. After getting the vaccine my partner had pericarditis which could have been avoided. Neither my partner or I have come across a doctor that has denied blood tests before even for a general blood test.This wasn’t the only negative experience at this doctors. During the first lock down last year I was denied entry to the doctors for a mental health appointment because I had feelings of tiredness (as it is a symptom similar to covid). The receptionist was extremely rude about this and wouldn’t offer me any other solutions on how I can get help or sympathy which was very distressing for me at the time. To top the cake they charged me for the appointment I didn’t attend and marked me as not showing up.There was only one doctor I met that went above and beyond for me and followed up on several occasions to check my symptoms had subsided.