Dr. Sophie Harrison – a member of the Northern Medical Program’s Class of 2017 – photo 250News

Prince George, B.C. – It was all smiles up at UNBC today.

This as the Northern Medical Program (NMP) celebrated its tenth graduating class, the Class of 2017.

Twenty-five students will now move into two to seven years of medical residency and fellowship training, depending on their speciality.

Ten of the graduates are from northern, B.C. – including four from Prince George.  Fourteen of the graduates will be entering family medicine residency programs, with four of those in Prince George and one in Terrace – Dr. Sophie Harrison.

Harrison is originally from Vancouver where she picked up her undergraduate degree from UBC.

“I moved up to Prince George in 2011 because I heard about the program and I was tired of living in the big city and just wanted to get a change of pace.”

She spent two years in Prince George before completing her third year in Terrace. Harrison says Terrace was a good fit for her considering she and her husband currently live in Prince Rupert where they operate a fishing business.

She notes having her residency in the northwest is also a perfect fit for her lifestyle.

“What’s important for me is not only my profession but I like to have a balance between work and outside of work and so I love fly-fishing and skiing. It’s kind of a quality of life thing.”

Harrison added her time with the NMP has been “incredible.”

“I loved UNBC before I started in the NMP because of the small classes and you really get to know your professors and it’s a nice support network,” she says.

“In this particular program people are just bending over backwards to see you succeed so I don’t have enough good things to say about it.”

Looking back at the 10 graduating classes, Dr. Paul Winwood, associate VP of Medicine at UNBC, said they’ve all been “fabulous.”

“What we see as the yeas go by is increasing community collegiality and I think we’ve seen more identification with the North but they’ve all been great through the years. It just gets stronger and stronger every year.”

The NMP celebration precedes the formal graduation of the students taking place May 24.