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| Original News Release |
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| Original News Release |
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· Establishing the northern medical program at the University of Northern British Columbia marks the first time undergraduate medical training has been available in British Columbia outside of Vancouver.
· The Northern Health Sciences Centre at UNBC will house the northern medical program. The building is 4,000 sq. metres (43,000 sq ft) and features lab space; eight classrooms for group problem-based learning and two lecture theatres with state of the art videoconferencing capability.
· Historically, B.C.’s rural and remote communities have found it difficult to recruit and retain qualified medical professionals. Between 1980 and 2001, there was no growth in the province’s 120 medical training spaces and a 50 per cent growth in provincial population during the same period, which made it difficult for B.C. residents to access the services of physicians in rural regions of the province, particularly in the North.
· In March 2002, government announced that the University of British Columbia’s medical school would be expanded to produce more B.C.-trained physicians to help reduce shortages. In a unique collaboration, UBC worked with the UNBC and the University of Victoria to form a distributed learning model that allows training to take place in three different geographic regions.
· Government also committed $134 million in capital funding to build the facilities to accommodate the new training spaces and equip them with the technology to support the distributed learning model. This investment includes $110 million for a new Life Sciences Centre at UBC’s Vancouver campus and about $12 million each for the Northern Health Sciences Centre at UNBC and the Medical Sciences Centre at UVic. The Life Sciences Centre and the Medical Sciences Centre are also nearing completion.
· The Province’s expanded medical training involves Vancouver/Fraser-based, Victoria-based and Prince George-based programs that will almost double the number of UBC’s first-year medical school spaces from the current 128 spaces to 224 by 2005/06.
· Beginning in September 2004, 200 medical students, 72 more than last year, will take their first semester at the UBC Vancouver campus.
· In January 2005, 24 students will move from UBC to the northern medical program at UNBC and 24 will move to the Island medical program at UVic.
· Under the medical school expansion, seats will be added to the programs until 2008/09, when the northern medical program and Island medical program will have 96 spaces each and the Vancouver/Fraser program will have 704 spaces, which combined will produce 224 graduates annually.
· Upon graduation, students from all three programs will receive degrees granted by UBC.
· This collaborative approach will provide effective, efficient training that draws on the established expertise of UBC and develops fields of regional and specialty expertise. The northern medical program at UNBC will address special issues for northern communities, including aboriginal health. The Island medical program at UVic will add expertise in biomedicine and geriatric issues.
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For information on AchieveBC, visit http://www.achievebc.ca.
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