After eight years at the helm of the Northern Medical Program (NMP) as Regional Associate Dean and VP Medicine UNBC, Dr. David Snadden has been appointed Executive Associate Dean of Education for the UBC Faculty of Medicine and will commence his new position on November 1, 2011.

This position is responsible for all educational programs in the Faculty of Medicine and will be based in Prince George at UNBC.

“That there is going to be a senior leadership role in northern B.C. illustrates that the Faculty is committed to its responsibilities as a provincial Faculty of Medicine,” says Dr. Snadden. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with the Faculty and health authorities to build on what we’ve already accomplished for the whole province.”

Dr. Snadden will be replaced on an interim basis by Dr. Geoffrey Payne, who has also been with the NMP since 2004. In fact, he was the first faculty appointed, and has been Assistant Dean for the past two-and-a-half years. During his tenure, Dr. Payne has been actively engaged in developing the research platforms of the Northern Medical Program and its partners. Dr. Geoffrey Payne came to UNBC from Yale University.

“We’ve now graduated four classes of students from the Northern Medical Program and we have been focused on creating a program that provides an exceptional medical education in northern and rural communities,” says Dr. Payne. “I’m thrilled to be moving into this role, as an extension of my previous position in the program, and I look forward to continuing our work as the program grows and matures.”

The Northern Medical Program is an integral part of UBC's Faculty of Medicine distributed MD undergraduate program and is delivered in collaboration with UNBC and Northern Health.  To date, the distribution and expansion of the MD undergraduate program has more than doubled the number of medical student spaces in British Columbia.

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Dr. David Snadden

Dr. Geoff Payne