He arataki, he pou tikanga, he wahine toa.
 

Dr Nadine Houia-Ashwell is a trailblazing Māori doctor and health researcher whose leadership is grounded in whakapapa, shaped by lived experience, and driven by a deep love for whānau.

Of Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, and Kāi Tahu descent, Nadine was raised in Porirua by her mother and grandmother. As the eldest of seven, she grew up surrounded by the everyday challenges and strength of Māori whānau, which inspired her to pursue medicine to give back.

A first-generation university graduate, Nadine earned a Bachelor of Science (Neuroscience and Māori Studies) in 2016 and went on to complete a Bachelor of Medical Science with First Class Honours, and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Otago in 2022. Nadine completed her final year of medical school with distinction and was awarded the Wellington Faculty RNZCGP Prize for excellence in General Practice and the Iti Rearea award for contribution to te reo me ōna tikanga.  

Nadine received two consecutive Māori Health Summer Studentships from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, where she explored both Māori health professional students’ experiences applying under the Māori sub-category of admissions at the University of Otago and non-Māori students’ understanding of the same. She presented her findings at the 2018 Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors’ Congress in Hawaiʻi, supported by Te Akoranga a Māui, the Māori representative group of the RNZCGP.

This experience formed a solid foundation for her to complete her BMedSc(Hons) which was a critical evaluation of the Tū Kahikatea Foundation Year Scholarship. Nadine also actively contributed to kaupapa through Kia Ora Hauora, Te Rōpū Māori and Te Oranga, playing a significant role in the development of Ngā Puna Hauora, (University of Otago ki Pōneke Māori health professional Students’ Association), championing the voice of tauira Māori in health.

Motivated by a vision of hauora that is culturally safe, whānau-centred, and led by Māori, Nadine aspires to become a General Practitioner with a special interest in Women’s Health. In pursuit of these aspirations, Nadine has recently completed her Postgraduate diploma in Obstetrics and Medical Gynaecology, all while becoming the proud Māmā of her very own pepi -which she says wouldn’t have been possible without the love and support of her partner, Natana Collier. Nadine would like to work with wāhine in her home community of Porirua before eventually returning to Te Tai Tokerau, where she can walk alongside wāhine and whānau at every stage of life.

“I love my whānau so much that I want to look after them—ā-tinana, ā-wairua, ā-hinengaro, ā-whānau—and also financially. We’ve lived the statistics. We can lead the change.”

Dr Houia-Ashwell is part of a bold generation of Māori leaders reimagining health through the lens of equity, aroha, and tino rangatiratanga.

Links: 

Te Oranga - Māori Medical Students Association Aotearoa (Facebook)

Pōneke Tuakana - Nadine Houia-Ashwell (Facebook)

Kia Ora Hauora National  (Facebook)

Māori Education Trust Annual Report 2018 – Nadine Houia-Ashwell (page 24)

2019 NGĀ KARAHIPI SCHOLARSHIPS Te Arawa page 23