Expanded medical education program
- The three universities along with their affiliated hospitals,
health regions and community-based physicians and health-care
professionals will provide a full range of medical education including
training with a community-specific focus such as aboriginal and
rural health or geriatric medicine.
- Students in the NMP and IMP will spend their first four months
of the MD undergraduate program in Vancouver and the remainder
of the first two years in the north or on Vancouver Island.
- In the third and fourth years of the program students will have
a range of experiences in the north and on Vancouver Island and
will also have opportunities through UBC’s network of 96 affiliated
teaching hospitals and health authorities throughout B.C.
- The number of positions for residencies will be increased to
accommodate the greater number of graduates from the undergraduate
program. Faculty will be added at all sites to fulfill teaching
requirements and they will have access to professional development
programs and student supervision.
- It is recognized that students and residents trained locally
are more likely to develop the skills and relationships necessary
to work in those communities as physicians.
Current situation
- More than 300 doctors leave B.C. or retire annually*
- UBC educates only 30 per cent of new family physicians and 18
per cent of new specialists in the province
- Almost three-quarters of B.C. physicians received their training
outside of the province
- About 44 per cent of medical specialists in B.C. are older than
50 years*
- About 40 per cent of specialist in obstetrics, gynecology, neurology
and general surgery are older than 55 years*
- The School of Audiology and Speech Sciences — a part of UBC’s
Faculty of Medicine and the only School of Audiology west of Toronto
— is currently at less than 20 per cent of student space standard
- The number of graduates in Occupational Therapy and in Physical
Therapy — part of UBC’s School of Rehabilitation Sciences and
Faculty of Medicine — is the lowest per capita in Canada for
both professions and meets only 35 per cent of provincial needs
- Existing UBC facilities available for the training of MDs and
other health care professionals occupied to full capacity, however,
there are inefficiencies due to physical configurations and significant
building code issues including fire and safety, accessibility
and seismic stability
*Source: Angus Reid Group Omnibus poll conducted for Canadian
Medical Association, August 1999
