SD83 Students Taking the Pulse of Medical Careers
“I’m locked in!”
Rahaf Algiasena excitedly made the statement to her group as she used a medical pry tool to open the mouth of a intubation practice head as she prepares a tube to enter the trachea. The Grade Nine JL Jackson student was one of forty-six students from across the district wanting to learn more about careers in the medical profession, namely being a doctor. Students from all five school district 83 high schools and King’s Christian School in Salmon Arm participated in the half-day event hosted at Pleasant Valley Secondary School in Armstrong.
This is the second year SD83 Careers and UBC’s Faculty of Medicine partnered to have an event. Last year, a virtual seminar was conducted and broadcasted province-wide. This year, students heard a presentation from four 2nd year UBC medical students talking about their journey towards the apex health career. From there, the students rotated in four stations where they could do hands-on activities, namely CPR process, taking blood pressure, testing reflexes, suturing, and intubation of a patient.
All UBC personnel dispelled myths about attempting or being a medical student. They emphasized that you don’t need to have a lot of money to enter the program, have perfect grades or sacrifice a social life to be a medical student. One student suggested they possibly worked harder in their undergrad than the current program. All medical students say the faculty is very supportive of students in the program to assist them in their educational journey. They also says there are many bursaries and scholarships to access to help fund the four year program. Finally, Student Emily Stone said there are ways students can get their student loans forgiven if they chose to work in a rural area in BC following their schooling.
The UBC students repeated many times that students are not just chosen to the program because of good academics but also show strong outer school experiences as well. Volunteering for anything helps as do character references through work, school and passion pursuits. One option that could help students on this path that SD83 offers includes dual credit programs into the care economy. JL Jackson’s Emergency Medical Responder program is done in conjunction with the Justice Institute of BC and Okanagan College’s Health Care Assistant Program both offer experiential learning opportunities for students to get certified and working in a profession while earning high school credits and getting tuition paid for by SD83.
SD83 acknowledges the financial support for this event from both the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Education and Child Care and UBC’s Faculty of Medicine Program. If you wish to discuss medicine pathways for yourself or your student, don’t hesitate to either reach out to you neighbourhood school’s career coordinator or you can text or call SD83 Career Education Coordinator George Richard at 778-824-1188 or email grichard@sd83.bc.ca.