Fort St John Doctors Support Northern Medical Students
December 13, 2004 for immediate release
With less than one month
to go until the start of classes in the Northern Medical Program, Fort St John doctors are contributing $100,000 to help support future medical
students.
“This
monetary donation to the Northern Medical Programs Trust displays the
support and commitment we as physicians of Fort St John place in the importance
of training and retaining new physicians in the North, for the Northern
communities, so that continuity of quality primary health care will continue to
be accessible to all people who live and work here,” says Dr. Kevin Page, President of the Medical Staff
and Clinical Instructor in the UBC Faculty of Medicine. There are 21 general
practitioners and six specialists in Fort St John.
The contribution comes a
month after communities in the North Peace joined together to create the North
Peace Community Pledge, which is aiming to raise nearly $550,000 to support the
Trust. The pledge includes Hudson’s
Hope, Taylor, and Fort St John, along with Areas B and C of the Peace River Regional District.
“This
generous donation to the Northern Medical Programs Trust demonstrates
outstanding leadership from our medical doctors of Fort St. John. It represents
20% of our goal in the North Peace,” says Kathleen O’Neill, Chair of the North Peace NMPT Support Group. “I
would like to thank our local
physicians for their commitment to the future health of our residents.”
The Northern Medical Programs Trust is partnership involving the University of Northern British Columbia and nearly two-dozen communities from around
northern BC. The goal is to create an endowment of $6 million, with different
communities pledging different amounts based on their populations. Together
with the University, the communities themselves will manage the Trust, and
determine the criteria for how students will be able to access funds that will
help them offset the costs of their medical education.
The Northern Medical Program has been
created by UNBC and UBC to educate physicians in the North, for practice in
northern and rural communities. The first 25 students in the program will start
their classes in Prince George on January 10, 2005. The program will also include practical
placements in clinical settings across northern BC.