MBChB, FRNZCGP
Dr Rawiri Keenan is a leading Māori GP, academic, and health equity advocate dedicated to transforming Aotearoa’s primary care landscape. Of Te Atiawa and Taranaki descent, Rawiri’s career spans clinical practice, research, and system leadership, grounded in a commitment to kaupapa Māori and mana motuhake.
He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Otago and is a Fellow of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (FRNZCGP). His frontline experience as a GP in both urban and rural communities fuels his national advocacy for whānau-centred, culturally safe care.
Rawiri currently serves as Associate Professor of Primary Care at the University of Waikato and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago. His research—spanning lung and bowel cancer, diabetes, Long COVID, and innovations in primary care—has contributed to major health equity initiatives. A former Health Research Council Foxley Fellow, he brings academic depth and real-world impact to his roles on the National Mortality Review Committee, Patient Experience Survey Clinical Governance Group, and Te Aho o Te Kahu’s National Clinical Assembly (recently disestablished in lieu of new national clinical network)
As former Pou Whirinaki for the RNZCGP, Rawiri supported the growth of a strong Māori GP workforce, mentoring tauira and strengthening Māori clinical networks. He has also served as Medical Advisor at Midlands PHO, and as Clinical advisor at te Manatu Hauora, championing Indigenous voices in system design.
Rawiri’s leadership bridges clinical excellence with system change. His advocacy challenges institutional inequities and builds pathways for rangatahi Māori in medicine. Whether in a wharekura, lecture theatre, or policy boardroom, his voice remains steadfast:
“Equity isn’t doing more for one group—it’s doing what’s needed to achieve fairness.”
Dr Keenan is reshaping the future of Māori primary care, not only through service, but by ensuring the health system reflects the people it serves.
Links:
Google Scholar - Rawiri Keenan (Profile)
Research Gate - Rawiri Keenan (Profile)
What might we expect as health policy with the new government? Vol 136 | No 1585 | 2023 November 10 Non-small cell lung cancer chemotherapy treatment outcomes and ethnicity: a twenty-year singlecentre patterns of care study pages 24-35
Reducing healthcare inequities for Māori using Telehealth during COVID-19 April 2022 The New Zealand medical journal 135(1552):112-119
Dr Rawiri Keenan | Senior Research Fellow, Dept of Primary Care and General Practice, University of Otago,Audio, June 19, 2023
Waikato bolsters health leadership team, 22 Aug 2023
Time for a change? Unity not competition for the sake of our communities
Geographical Classification for Health Team
Time for a change? Unity not competition for the sake of our communities
Time again for an organised approach to general practice research in New Zealand?
Seeing the unseen: evidence of kaupapa Māori health interventions
02 June 2025
