By HEATHER WARREN
Special to the AV News
North Island College (NIC) has launched a new program to address the health care professional shortage. The ‘Island Pre-Health Science Program’ aims to attract local students with affordable tuition and small class sizes and retain them after graduation by supporting a strong connection to their community.
NIC faculty member Aisling Brady began developing the program 10 years ago, when a shortage of rural doctors prompted another B.C. college to launch a similar program.
“We actually based this program after Selkirk College’s rural pre-medicine program. They had people from the Island coming and taking their rural pre-medicine program and they told us there was a need for these programs province-wide.”
Brady consulted with the health sciences community and formulated a feasibility study. The program was approved by the college in December.
The three-year program enables students pursuing degrees in health science to study at the Comox Valley campus, earning university credits required for careers such as medicine, nursing, optometry, dentistry, chiropractic and veterinary medicine.
One of the main attractions of the new program is affordability, as the cost of tuition is much lower at NIC.
“We have some of the most reasonable tuition in the province, so it is actually quite economically feasible,” says Brady.
Students will also encounter smaller class sizes and individual attention, something not found at larger universities.
Indigenous health is woven through much of the curriculum.
“This is a really big piece for me,” says Brady. “I really feel very strongly that Indigenous issues, Indigenous topics that are really central need to be highlighted when we’re talking about health, we need to talk about Indigenous health in particular.”
Every year will start with an orientation that will run students through an Indigenous cultural safety workshop, giving them the opportunity to discover their own personal biases and learn about the impact of colonization and how that can affect health in Indigenous communities.
Course content is infused with Indigenous topics, such as ‘Introduction to Indigenous and Pharmaceutical Medicines’ which explores the mechanisms of pharmaceuticals and healing through Indigenous medicines and their importance and value.
Indigenous students will be offered priority admission to the program.
While most larger universities have residency requirements of two years (so students planning to attend them are advised to transfer from NIC’s program after two years), a stay-at-home option is Thompson Rivers University, which allows NIC students to attend remotely after three years to obtain a bachelor of health science degree.
The advantage of attracting local residents is that they know what to expect from Vancouver Island communities and they’re more likely to have enough support to find housing in smaller communities. Brady said when she was consulting with the health sciences community she was told that they had success attracting people in residencies and practicums but they did not stay long as settling here was a challenge. A good number of local young people, it would seem, want to stay in the community, as long as they can find employment.
“I do find the Island students are very close to the Island. They don’t necessarily want to leave the Island and I notice that a lot of my current students have never been off the Island. Some have never been as far as Nanaimo, even. So having something close that they could feel comfortable with is really important.”
A key part of the program, says Brady, is a series of one-and-a-half credit courses in the first two years called ‘Island Pre-Health Series Courses’. They are intended to foster connection to the health sciences community by bringing in guest lecturers and offering field trips, linking students with people working in the health sciences field and offering a crucial networking piece to their experience.
“So by the time a student finishes their professional degree they already have that connection to someone that may be looking to adding someone to their practice.”
While NIC is just embarking on this new initiative, Selkirk is already reaping the benefits. Brady says that enough years have passed for Selkirk’s students to graduate from UBC medical school and a number have returned and are practicing in Castlegar. It will be some years, but hopefully NIC’s grads will also choose to return to the Island.
(Heather Warren is a freelance writer living and working in the Alberni Valley)