Northern Medical Program

Students spend the first semester (August to December) at UBC in Vancouver and then move to the Northern Medical Program in Prince George for the remainder of their education.  The first and second years are based primarily at the Dr Donald Rix Northern Health Sciences Centre at UNBC with experiences in family practice offices and in clinical skills education at Prince George Regional Hospital (PGRH). Core clinical training (known as clerkships) takes place during third year with the support of  physicians who combine patient care with teaching. There are two models of clerkships, one which includes rotating through ten major disciplines (ie OBGYN, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry etc) and the other  Integrated Clerkships, which allow students to follow patients throughout their care and involves whatever discipline(s) the patients require. Most third year clerkship rotations take place at Prince George Regional Hospital and this past September (2008) three NMP students are participating in a pilot for an integrated clerkship program in Terrace, BC.  Development for further integrated clerkships is currently underway in the northeast (Fort St John & Dawson Creek).  During fourth year, students have elective opportunities throughout BC, Canada and beyond and participate in the Canadian Resident's Matching Service (CaRMs) match.

The first two years are about teaching students the basic sciences. These years are an intensive academic study of biological and behavioural sciences. An instructional method called "Problem Based Learning" is used to engage students to think critically and analytically.

Working with clinical material from the first day, students will work in groups to seek solutions to real life medical problems through case studies and simulations. The curriculum will encourage skill development in clinical reasoning and will help students to interact with patients and healthcare professionals. The curriculum also includes clinical skills teaching and a course called "Doctor Patient and Society", which examines the broader issues of medicine. Students will also continue working in a family physician's medical office, gaining professional skills in adaptability, problem solving and clinical communication.

Students will also have a number of lectures and labs during this time. Courses during this time will cover:

• Principles of Human Biology
• Cardiovascular
• Pulmonary
• Renal Genitourinary
• Musculoskeletal
• Blood Lymphatics
• Gastrointestinal
• Endocrine Metabolism
• Integument
• Brain Behaviour
• Reproduction
• Growth Development

The final two years, the Clerkship years are purely clinical. They start with a four-week summer practicum working with a physician in a rural or remote community throughout BC and the Yukon. Students gain experience in the varied medical situations found in small communities and will learn to care for patients, following them through any medical procedures they may require. Students will then begin rotations in the ten clerkship areas that spans across a 48 week timeframe:

• Internal Medicine
• Surgery
• Pediatrics
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Psychiatry
• Emergency Medicine
• Anesthesiology
• Orthopedics
• Opthamology
• Dermatology

In the clinical years, clinical education, as in any of the Faculty of Medicine's distributed program, can take place anywhere in the Province of British Columbia.

Some students will participate in integrated clerkships. In these the same disciplines will be covered as in rotating clerkships, but they will be in a an integrated way in a smaller community setting. This means students will deal with patients irrespective of the discipline and in a single day could see, for example, patients with surgical problems, some with internal medicine complaints as well as being involved with obstetrics. The integrated clerkship pilot started in Terrace in September 2008, and further development is underway in Ft St John and Dawson Creek in the Peace Laird district in the NE. Students spend the whole of third year in an integrated clerkship site. Approximately one quarter of the NMP clerkship placements will be integrated clerkships. We are also developing Family Medicine Residency sites in both sites with Family Medicine training starting in the NE in 2008 and in the NW in 2009.

The final year before graduation is an advanced clerkship made up of a series of electives courses where students choose to study in their intended area of discipline. Students are expected to take on an increased level of responsibility for patient care. The fourth year provides further experiences required for medical practice covering themes:

• Pharmacology & Therapeutics
• Healthcare & Epidemiology
• Healthcare Policy
• Medical Ethics & Law
• Advanced Communication Skills
• Palliative Care