The arrival of our second cohort signals another significant milestone for the Southern Medical Program. With 64 students now enrolled in the program, we have reached our targeted capacity for first and second year medical students. An immense amount of time and resources has been invested into ensuring our students receive a phenomenal educational experience that is delivered in a supportive learning environment. The feedback received from our newest cohort has been incredibly positive and reinforces the hard work that continues to be done by our faculty, staff, and program partners.
Our clinical faculty continues to grow in leaps and bounds, now reaching more than 700 physicians within the BC Interior. Students from across UBC’s distributed MD Undergraduate Program now have more opportunities than ever to gain exposure to life and training in a diversity of communities situated throughout our region. The Faculty of Medicine continues to expand postgraduate education opportunities across the province, including the Interior, which many of our future graduates will inevitably take advantage for their residency training.
Twenty volunteer UBC medical students are now in the final stretches of their third year clerkship rotations in Kelowna, Kamloops, Trail, and Vernon. The leadership and clinical faculty at each of our third year training sites have built and refined incredible rotations in final preparation for the first wave of SMP students in September 2013. Faculty development remains a top priority across the region to ensure our clinical faculty have the necessary tools and resources for their teaching sessions.
This summer marks the huge transition for our inaugural class as they make the jump from the classroom and local clinics to the wards, operating and emergency rooms of our region’s hospitals. Their first stop is a four-week, rural family medicine clerkship rotation that can take them to virtually any small rural community within British Columbia, Yukon, or Northwest Territories. We are extremely proud of their achievements over the past two years and look forward to the next stage of their medical education with great anticipation.
Allan R. Jones, MD, FRCPC
Regional Associate Dean, Interior, UBC Faculty of Medicine
and Associate Vice-Provost, Medical Sciences, UBC Okanagan’s campus