Dr Lucy O'Hagan


Lucy has been a general practitioner for 30 years. She has worked in a variety of settings including 20 years as a rural GP in Wānaka and then in kaupapa Māori services and a needle exchange clinic. She is a very experienced educator with the RNZCGP and was awarded the Eric Elder Medal in 2017 and the President’s Service Medal in 2024.

Lucy has studied the social science of medicine including medical anthropology and philosophy, narrative practice and kaitiakitanga. Her interest area is in consultation skills particularly in situations of biomedical uncertainty or when good communication is challenging.

Lucy’s book Everything But the Medicine was Longlisted for the Ockham NZ Book awards in 2026 and is in its third print run. Through 60 stories and personal essays it explores the non medical parts of the consultation, the patients who challenge us, the culture of medicine, the ways in which the health system can create perverse outcomes and how we might better respond to patient’s stories. Everything But the Medicine is available as audiobook and e book.

Lucy has written a column for New Zealand Doctor magazine since 2017. In 2024 she recorded a set of stories and columns written during the pandemic. Waiting for Covid is available on podcast platforms. Lucy is currently touring Aotearoa NZ with her one woman show Inside the GP Consultation which portrays 32 characters in 50 minutes.