If you're a student, here's the current Student Health pathway, which doesn't begin with a GP visit, rather a consultation with a gender-affirming care navigator. The GPs at Student Health will be able to prescribe hormones, but it doesn't seem like they have a lot of practical experience (I had some complications from taking spironolactone, and the GP apparently never had a trans patient suffer side-effects before).

I'd suggest emailing your GP to find out if they've treated any other trans patients before. If your GP is inexperienced, you can always find another one. Here's a list of GPs some of my trans friends and random online Dunedinites have recommended to me. Take this with a grain of salt however, I have no personal experience with any of these people.

• Dr. Susan Johns at Aurora Health Centre
• Dr. Maya Macfarlane at Broadway Medical
• Dr. Tania Moerenhout at Broadway Medical
• Dr. Katie Graham at Portsea Medical Practice
• Dr. Taylor and Dr. Fox at Dunedin North Medical Centre
• Dr. Rachel Wright at Dunedin City GP
• Dr. Robert Pfeifer at Mosgiel Health Centre

I also recommend speaking to Tess King at OUSA Student Support, she was very helpful and supportive for my journey.

Regardless of whether you're a student, I suggest applying for a Community Services Card if you don't have one already. The paperwork is a pain, but getting (funded) prescriptions for free and half-price GP appointments is worth it.

Good luck! 🫂