Medical and surgical

How to become a rehabilitation medicine physician

Official title: Rehabilitation medicine physician

Also called: Physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, Specialist physician

Rehabilitation medicine physicians diagnose and treat health problems that require physical or mental rehabilitation.

Main tasks

Diagnose health problems
Give patients physical and mental rehabilitation treatment
Treat chronic diseases and disorders
Help people with disabilities manage their conditions
Make treatment plans
Work with other medical professionals
Use rehabilition and medical equipment
Conduct medical tests

How to become one

You need more than one qualification to become a rehabilitation medicine physician. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: to complete the Health Sciences First Year programme at the University of Otago OR the first year of the Bachelor of Health Sciences, Bachelor of Biomedical Science or Bachelor of Science with a health major at the University of Auckland; a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery; a minimum of 2 years’ general hospital experience; to complete the 4-year advanced rehabilitation medicine training programme and pass exams to become a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM); an Annual Practising Certificate; to pass a police check. Registration body: Medical Council of New Zealand.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Medicine & Dentistry degrees, Offered by 2 universities in New Zealand
Registration or licence: An Annual Practising Certificate. Registration body: Medical Council of New Zealand (https://www.mcnz.org.nz).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $203,080 to $250,280 a year (median $226,680), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $185,380 a year · Upper: $267,980 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Specialist Physicians: 1,260 at the 2018 Census and 1,857 at the 2023 Census (+47.4%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 51 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Specialist Physicians, 49% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Specialist Physicians work (2023 Census): Auckland 33.8%, Canterbury 13.8%, and Wellington 12.8%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a rehabilitation medicine physician?

How much does a rehabilitation medicine physician earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $226,680 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $203,080 to $250,280 a year.

Has the number of people working as a rehabilitation medicine physician grown in New Zealand?

It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a rehabilitation medicine physician?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026