Rate My Professor Witana Petley

Witana Petley serves as Lecturer in Hauora Māori at the University of Otago Faculty of Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, where he convenes the hauora Māori vertical module within the Advanced Learning in Medicine programme. A qualified physiotherapist, he earned his Bachelor of Physiotherapy from the University of Otago School of Physiotherapy in 2018, following a tertiary pathway supported by scholarships including the Tū Kahika Scholarship, University of Otago Māori and Pacific Peoples’ Entrance Scholarship, Rural Waikato Undergraduate Health Scholarship, and Hauora Māori scholarship for physiotherapy students. Originally from Putaruru in the South Waikato, Petley has focused his career on advancing Māori health equity. Prior to academia, he worked as a rotational physiotherapist at Dunedin Hospital. He currently holds the position of Tūmuaki of Tae Ora Tinana, the Māori Physiotherapy Association, and participates in panels, committees, and executive boards to promote cultural safety and responsiveness in physiotherapy and allied health professions. He collaborates with departments on projects such as reviewing cultural safety training for clinical supervisors.