Northern Medical Program

Northern Medical Program (NMP) is a joint medical program by the UBC Faculty of Medicine (FOM) and the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) for training of doctors in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of three medical programs in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, along with the Island Medical Program (IMP) at the University of Victoria (UVic) and the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program (VFMP) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). A future program at the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna will be called the Southern Medical Program (SMP).

History

The program was created to increase the number of doctors in northern British Columbia after 7,000 residents of Prince George packed the CN Centre Arena in June 2000 to protest the lack of access to physicians and health care.

In the summer of 2003, the ground was broken at UNBC for the Northern Health Science Centre, named after Dr. Donald Rix. In spring 2004, testing of technology and accreditation took place. The first cohort of 24 students began the program on August 30, 2004 and graduated in May 2008.

Program of study

The program consists of four years of studies. Year 1 and 2 consists of general sciences or foundations of medicine. All classes for students in the IMP and NMP in the first term of the program are held at UBC's campus in Vancouver with the rest of the students meeting at the VFMP. Year 3 and 4 consist of clinical practicum. Year 4 is an advanced clerkship, residency, and participation in the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMs) match.

The program is based mainly at the Northern Health Sciences Centre in Prince George, British Columbia as well as at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC); the Northern Health region; the Northern Health Sciences Centre; and the Island Medical Program - University of Victoria.

References

• Welcome to UNBC
• BC Medical Journal