The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) is the main association representing doctors in New Zealand. It was officially founded after a meeting in April 1886 at Dunedin Hospital. From 1896 to 1967, the NZMA was considered as a branch of the British Medical Association and was known as the New Zealand Branch of the British Medical Association well into the 1970s. In the 1960s, Erich Geiringer, who was in conflict with the association, exploited the potential for confusion by founding the New Zealand Medical Association (since this name was officially free). Geiringer's NZMA included a number of progressive physicians and was very involved in political debates.
The NZMA is part of the World Medical Association and publishes the The New Zealand Medical Journal.