Koan Hemana of Rotorua Boys' High School, Aotearoa, will soon begin studying at Harvard College with the aim of getting into the Boston university's post-graduate medical school.

Mr Hemana spoke with Radio New Zealand's Pokere Paewai about his plan to become only the second Māori to study medicine at Harvard, which was motivated by the shortage of Māori medical practitioners.

"I'm very passionate about Māori health inequities. We dominate the wrong side of health in this country, suffering more from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, suicide and things like that. I've witnessed that within my own family," he said.

"And me being a part of the indigenous people, the Māori people, it's sort of served as a motivator to want to make change - or at least contribute as much as I possibly can."

Mr Hemana told RNZ that Harvard was an obvious choice because of its resources and the opportunities it would provide, and that he was inspired by a friend who was accepted into Harvard last year.

"It completely changed the game. Here's someone I can see, someone who's similar to me, similar heritage, and he's doing it - so it's definitely achievable," he said.

In 2021 Mr Hemana received the Te Ara a Kupe Beaton Scholarship, which helps Māori students to apply for and attend universities overseas.

"It's very much just all settling in at this point. I still can't really accept reality and believe that this is actually happening," he told RNZ.

"We've already scheduled a two-week-long trip just to tour a little part of the US before they drop me off. I guess we'll see some tears there and it'll definitely change the family dynamic."