From prison to med school: Dr Timoti te Moke opens up about rough upbringing that led him to healthcare

Dr Timoti Te Moke became a doctor at age 56, but it wasn't an easy road to get into medical school.

Before he started at Middlemore Hospital, he endured a childhood filled with abuse, time in state care, in prison and eventually gangs. 

He detailed his journey in his new book, The Unlikely Doctor, and says he wrote it to shine a light on the barriers holding Kiwis back from reaching their potential.

"There are a lot of people that could be where I am, but due to the barriers that society put in place, they are not able to do this. Essentially, what my book is looking at is the potential this country could have if we realised that these are the barriers we have in place." 

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<h2>From prison to med school: Dr Timoti te Moke opens up about rough upbringing that led him to healthcare</h2>
Dr Timoti Te Moke became a doctor at age 56, but it wasn't an easy road to get into medical school.
Before he started at Middlemore Hospital, he endured a childhood filled with abuse, time in state care, in prison and eventually gangs.&nbsp;
He detailed his journey in his new book, The Unlikely Doctor, and says he wrote it to shine a light on the barriers holding Kiwis back from reaching their potential.
"There are a lot of people that could be where I am, but due to the barriers that society put in place, they are not able to do this. Essentially, what my book is looking at is the potential this country could have if we realised that these are the barriers we have in place."&nbsp;
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The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

Best of 2025: Dr Timoti Te Moke opens up about upbringing on the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/1eeb6944-65e2-4a3a-a620-b3cd00299074/transcript

British newcomer Robert Aramayo was the talk of this year's BAFTA awards after he walked away with the Best Actor victory.

The leading role that saw him beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, and Michael B. Jordan was his depiction of  Scottish Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson in I Swear. 

Robert Aramayo and director Kirk Jones explained why it was important to tell Davidson's story in the most authentic way.

"I think it was a shared responsibility, really. We all felt that we wanted to make a good, authentic version of his life."

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British newcomer Robert Aramayo was the talk of this year's BAFTA awards after he walked away with the Best Actor victory.
The leading role that saw him beat out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet, and Michael B. Jordan was his depiction of &nbsp;Scottish Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson in I Swear.&nbsp;
Robert Aramayo and director Kirk Jones explained why it was important to tell Davidson's story in the most authentic way.
"I think it was a shared responsibility, really. We all felt that we wanted to make a good, authentic version of his life."
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Kirk Jones and Robert Aramayo: director and lead actor of I Swear on the film's impact

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/3e3d2bc5-1c8a-4edd-968d-b41c000aa63d/transcript

The life and journey of former Prime Minister Helen Clark is set to be explored in a new play set to hit Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre this April.

Helen Clark in Six Outfits will trace her journey from the farm in Waikato where she grew up all the way to taking on the top role in the Beehive.

The play was written by Kiwi actress and writer Fiona Samuel - and she says she worked to find the story in the facts about the former Prime Minister's life.

"I did know that there was going to be humour in it, but I thought - humour alone won't get you through an evening in the theatre, you've got to have some substance. So what is the substance here? What are the moments, what are the other characters?"

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The life and journey of former Prime Minister Helen Clark is set to be explored in a new play set to hit Auckland's ASB Waterfront Theatre this April.
Helen Clark in Six Outfits will trace her journey from the farm in Waikato where she grew up all the way to taking on the top role in the Beehive.
The play was written by Kiwi actress and writer Fiona Samuel - and she says she worked to find the story in the facts about the former Prime Minister's life.
"I did know that there was going to be humour in it, but I thought - humour alone won't get you through an evening in the theatre, you've got to have some substance. So what is the substance here? What are the moments, what are the other characters?"
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Fiona Samuel: Kiwi actress and writer on her new play Helen Clark in Six Outfits

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c4123716-8e79-4acf-9b97-b41c00032330/transcript

The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent. Liz Nugent is particularly good at writing about dysfunctional families - I first loved Lying in Wait and the more recently, Strange Sally Diamond. In this new one, Ruby and her sister Erin live a sheltered life in Boston, but when Ruby’s 16, something awful happens which sends shockwaves through the family and tears them all apart. Ruby builds a new life in Dublin where she spends decades trying to outrun the past, but it’s never far away and someday, somehow, there just might be a reckoning.

The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson. Historical fiction, based during WW2 with much of the story being recreated from actual events. It’s about a group of librarians from various places in England and Poland, who trained together and became very good friends - in particular, two of them - Joyce in London and Dorotha who’s incarcerated in a Polish ghetto, Despite everything which is going on around them, they’re determined to keep getting books into the hands of readers as a means of escapism and of comfort. 

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The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent. Liz Nugent is particularly good at writing about dysfunctional families - I first loved Lying in Wait and the more recently, Strange Sally Diamond. In this new one, Ruby and her sister Erin live a sheltered life in Boston, but when Ruby’s 16, something awful happens which sends shockwaves through the family and tears them all apart. Ruby builds a new life in Dublin where she spends decades trying to outrun the past, but it’s never far away and someday, somehow, there just might be a reckoning.
The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson. Historical fiction, based during WW2 with much of the story being recreated from actual events. It’s about a group of librarians from various places in England and Poland, who trained together and became very good friends - in particular, two of them - Joyce in London and Dorotha who’s incarcerated in a Polish ghetto, Despite everything which is going on around them, they’re determined to keep getting books into the hands of readers as a means of escapism and of comfort.&nbsp;
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Whitcoulls Recommends: The Truth About Ruby Cooper and The Secret Society of Librarians

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/c028153f-f6cf-4636-99ca-b41b01883b89/transcript

Best of 2025: Dr Timoti Te Moke opens up about upbringing on the Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

From prison to med school: Dr Timoti te Moke opens up about rough upbringing that led him to healthcare

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