Although the head of the medical program at UNBC says negotiations are continuing and nothing has been finalized, the Province has indicated there will be more seats available for medical students this fall.

There will be 256 seats available this fall throughout the province up from the current 224, but even at that, says Health Minister George Abbott, “We are not likely going to be self sufficient in the number of doctors needed in the province.”

At UNBC, there are 24 seats open each year, the negotiations are to expand that to 32 seats this September. That would bring the University of Northern B.C. to its planned maximum for Medical Students.

How will the additional 32 seats be divided among the universities?

There are currently three Universities offering a medical program, soon there will be four. Health Minister George Abbott says it will be in Kelowna , “We will soon have the opportunity to see the expansion of the medical program to UBC Okanagan.” The Minister did not indicate how many seats will be allotted to that new program.

Will that mean there will be difficulty in recruiting students for the medical program at UNBC? Not at all says program head Dr. Dave Snadden “We have at least 6 students applying for every one medical seat available so there is no shortage of students wanting to get into the medical program.”

Snadden is also confident there won’t be any difficulty in recruiting students to “train in the north” when a similar program becomes available in the Okanagan “What we are seeing is an increasing number of students from the north applying to be part of the program here” says Snadden. He adds that so many students want to be part of the medical program that even those who were brought up in major urban centres quickly take to the northern lifestyle and the reduced stresses of living in a smaller community.