Future Nurses And Doctors Train In Northern BC

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 02:28 PM

Prince George, B.C. – UNBC announced today that more than 300 students from the School of Nursing and 45 from the Northern Medical Program will have the opportunity to gain clinical experience in communities throughout northern B.C. this spring and summer.

Students will be placed in Prince George, Queen Charlotte City, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat, Hazelton, Smithers, Burns Lake, Fraser Lake, Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Chetwynd, Mackenzie, Valemount, McBride, Williams Lake and Quesnel as an integral part of the curriculum that is preparing students to work in rural and northern communities after graduation.

Vince Salyers, Chair of the School of Nursing says the placements really help the students gain a wide range of exposure “It prepares them to practice as registered nurses in rural and remote areas. Second, it’s the aspect of their education that really makes the profession come alive.”

Both the medical program and the Nurse Practitioner program produced its first graduates this year. Together with the BSc in Nursing, the three programs produced 98 grads in 2008.

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Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 02:28 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: HappyGoLucky on July 9 2008 5:52 PM

I wonder where UNBC will find the student space in the Medical Program (very tight space when only 24 students in the lab). But it is great progress getting that many graduates - speaks very highly of the staff and faculty there!

Posted by: owl on July 9 2008 9:10 PM

These are clinic positions, not labs.

The question I have is whether having 2 or 3 students helping will assist staff or hinder staff in what I assume to be understaffed work conditions since we have problems with recruiting and retention.

Posted by: HappyGoLucky on July 9 2008 9:50 PM

Owl, where do these 45 UNBC medical students go to school - I think UNBC as the article has pointed out? So, these 45 students need a lab to practice their work, where is that at... UNBC? Therefore as I mentioned before, how do you fit 45 med students into a lab designed only for 24 unless it is expanded within the last second.

Posted by: owl on July 10 2008 5:37 AM

The medical program and facilities started with 24 students per year and has now been increased to 32 students per year. That was planned right from the start.

Thus, with 32 students per year, there should be a total of over 120 medical students in the various facilities in PG at any given time depending on the total intake and attrition rate.

The nursing students may or may not use the UBC medical school building at UNBC. We have had nursing students in this town for decades without a university or medical school building.

The development at PGRH over the past 5+ years has also provided addtional teaching space close to clinical activities.

Medical education has changed considerably over the last few decades with students being introduced to clinics much earlier.

I am not sure where your concerns are coming from. Are students complaining about the lack of space?

The 45 medical students spoken about in the article would be at various levels in the program, not all from the same intake year. The same would be true of the nursing students.

The story is about placing these individuals in clinical experience opportunities throughout the northern region instead of just close to PG.

Posted by: HappyGoLucky on July 10 2008 7:09 AM

Students are complaining about lack of space in the labs.

Posted by: metalman on July 10 2008 8:11 AM

It's always something.
metalman.

Posted by: Nowicki on July 10 2008 12:49 PM

Let's not forget that the UNBC medical program is a UBC (joint) program and the students can access resources in UBC. Even compared to CNC, UNBC comes short and lacks lab facilities for teaching medical instumentation concepts to students.