June 12, 2007

This summer, 17 Northern British Columbia communities are hosting students who are pursuing an education in health science programs at the University of Northern British Columbia. The clinical placements in regional hospital and health clinics are vital to completing degree requirements for students in the Northern Medical Program (NMP), the master’s-level program in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP), and the bachelor’s degree in Nursing (BScN).

The following communities are hosting students from the various health science programs:

• Prince George (BScN, NMP, FNP)        
• Vanderhoof (BScN)
• Fraser Lake (NMP and FNP)            
• Burns Lake (BScN)
• Quesnel (BScN and FNP)            
• Terrace (BScN)
• Dawson Creek (BScN and NMP)        
• Prince Rupert (BScN)
• Fort St. James (BScN and NMP)            
• McBride (BScN)
• Hazelton (BScN and NMP)            
• Mackenzie (BScN)
• Kitimat (BScN and NMP)            
• Chetwynd (BScN)
• Masset (BScN and NMP)            
• Fort Nelson (BScN)
• Smithers (BScN and NMP)

“Medical students in northern communities this summer are not limited to those enrolled in the Northern Medical Program,” says David Snadden, head of the Northern Medical Program. “All 228 of UBC’s medical students are participating in a rural family practice course and they are in 88 communities throughout the province and Territories. This is unprecedented in the North.” The NMP is part of The University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine MD undergraduate program delivered in collaboration with the University of Northern British Columbia.

“Our collaborative Nursing program in Prince George, Quesnel, and Terrace has 480 students at the undergraduate and graduate levels – the highest ever in the North,” says Ian Blue, Chair of Nursing at UNBC. “Exposing students to northern communities and the terrific health care experiences they can have is the best thing we can do to prepare students to actually work in the North after they graduate.”

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622