The Relationship Between Academic Stress, Sleep Quality, and Psychological Wellbeing in Pasifika and New Zealand European Students at the University of Otago.

Background: Pasifika students in New Zealand are overrepresented in poor academic outcomes, and their academic challenges may potentially influence their wellbeing. We aim to: 1) compare the academic stress, sleep quality, and psychological wellbeing of Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZE) anatomy students at the University of Otago, and 2) determine if academic stress mediates the association between their psychological wellbeing and sleep quality.

Methods: We launched a brief online survey to Pasifika and NZE students in our department.

Does religiosity play a role in anatomy learning? Perspectives from Pasifika students at the University of Otago.

Religion is an important aspect in Pacific cultures and may influence how Pasifika students learn anatomy. Traditional constructs in Pacific cultures, such as tapu (forbidden/taboo) and sacred relationships, and/or Christian values are where spirituality is most commonly perceived among Pacific people. Although Pacific people are not homogenous, tapu is a concept that permeates all of Pacific cultures.

Anatomical sciences education needs to promote academic excellence of ethnic minority students-Evidence from Pasifika students at the University of Otago.

The Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago offers anatomical sciences education for various programs, but currently, little information is available on how the academic performance of anatomy students differ based on ethnicities. Here, we aim to determine if there is an ethnic disparity in academic performance among anatomy students at the University of Otago. We conducted a 5-year review of academic performance of New Zealand European (NZE) and Pasifika students in 10 undergraduate anatomy courses, including clinical anatomy, neuroscience, reproduction, cell biology, and biological anthropology.