October 19, 2001 For Immediate Release

The Prince George Community Foundation is providing $19,000 to the University of Northern British Columbia to help establish scholarships and bursaries for future students of the Northern Medical Program. The announcement was made by Community Foundation President Noreen Rustad at the annual Citizen of the Year banquet.

In the Summer of 2000, following a health care rally in the Prince George Multiplex, the Community Foundation began collecting contributions from local residents who wanted to support the development of medical training in northern British Columbia. The amount collected is being turned over to UNBC to support the progress that has been made to establish the Northern Medical Program (NMP).

"We were responding to a community need when we started this fund," says Ms Rustad. "One of the mandates of a community foundation is to enhance the ability of the community to support itself. In the jargon of today, that's called building capacity, and that's exactly what a Northern Medical Program would do." To date, the University has raised $6000 for the NMP, with another $5500 being pledged. Added to the Community Foundation contribution, the total raised for the medical program is about $30,500. The NMP is now a primary focus of UNBC's fundraising program.

The Northern Medical Program is a collaboration between UNBC and UBC to train medical students in the North for practice in northern and rural communities. The program may accept its first 20-24 students by September, 2004, pending government approval and funding. The program proposal presented to the British Columbia Government outlines a model for program delivery that would see medical students receive much of their education and training in northern BC. The exact details of the program plan will be available after the two universities approve the academic structure of the Northern Medical Program.