‘’Everyone in my family works in health and I too wanted to contribute to the health and wellbeing of my people. The Bachelor of Health offered a different path for me to also contribute to the health and disability sector.’’

Ali graduated in December. He started his Bachelor of Health when it first launched in 2018 and now works as a population health advisor for Hawke’s Bay District Health Board.

He says the transition to starting a role in the health and disability sector was straightforward thanks to his degree.

“Everything that was taught to me throughout the duration of my degree is now my career.”

“The relationships and health sector insights I gained throughout my degree were the key points of difference in giving me confidence,” he says.

In his new role, he still calls upon his previous lecturers for their expertise in different fields, and recently Ali hosted his former lecturer Dr. Clive Aspin – Senior Māori Health Lecturer as a key note speaker at the Sexual Health workshop he had coordinated at Hawke’s Bay District Health Board.

“The degree’s work-integrated style of learning and teaching across the health policy courses featured practical tasks such as submissions to things such as the Health and Disability Review, health case studies, and presentations, and now these are a reality in my new role.”

Ali majored in population health policy and service delivery.

He was also heavily involved in Pacific student voice whilst at university that saw him help establish a Tertiary Student Fare on the Greater Wellington Regional public transport network, and also founded Tauira Pasifika—the National Pacific Students’ Association. Ali was able to draw inspiration and skills from experiences like this for his new role.

“It really fuelled the fire in [my] belly to continue to influence transformational change, especially for Pacific and other underserved communities in health.”

Ali says the degree really changed his views on a lot of things—in particular, reframing the way the way health is viewed from as a reactive concept to a more proactive one.

“The Bachelor of Health truly is a game changer when it comes to health, with an upstream approach on how we can enable good health and wellbeing rather than having to rely on treatment as the main intervention,” says Ali.

“The Bachelor of Health degree really sets you up to be ready to confidently contribute to the health and disability sector in a meaningfully and holistic way.”

“There is often an assumption that health is directly related to a biomedical model, and that it’s all about treatment … but after many lectures, group work and research, the Bachelor of Health degree has really changed my mindset and worldview on health as a whole—and this has motivated me to be innovative in my approaches to support people to live healthier and more prosperous lives.’’

Ali currently works in the population health team, and is responsible for a range of portfolios, including disability, sexual health, oral health, and rangatahi health. He says the most rewarding part of his role has been bringing population health intelligence to people in a responsive and innovative way, and seeing interventions or programmes he has developed being implemented in the community.

“It has been a real blessing to enact the value of tautua (service) utilising the knowledge, skills and connections developed during my time studying, to lead population health interventions that whānau and communities in Hawke’s Bay can connect to.”

He says a health degree at Victoria University of Wellington is a fundamental step for anyone wanting to realise a “passion for helping and supporting people to live healthier lives”.

“Our communities need people to be agents of change in key decision-making areas to realise a healthy future – this degree sets people up to do that.

“You don’t need to be an expert in anything – gaining knowledge and developing expertise is all part of the journey. And for people from all different backgrounds, this degree is an opportunity to utilise your life experiences to make a unique contribution to the health and disability sector.”

Ali says the capital is the place to study.

“In Wellington, you are automatically immersed in an environment where learning and teaching isn’t just limited to the university.”

He says relationships formed with guest lecturers allowed him and his peers to connect with many decision makers who have a key influence in shaping policy and strategies, as well as with grassroot community organisations who campaign and advocate for healthier lifestyles, expert lecturers who are “always wanting to support the next batch of population health champions”, and families who students can share their learnings with.