Physiotherapy Program coming to UNBC 2020
24th May 2019 was a very exciting day for Prince George. This is when Hon Minister Melanie Mark came to UNBC and announced that the physiotherapy program would be coming to UNBC in September 2020 for an intake of 20 students. Many of us have been advocating for this program for many years and we are thrilled that this has finally been announced.
Training physiotherapists at UNBC will enable students from the north to enrol in this program rather than have to move to Vancouver or often, to another province or even overseas to be accepted into a physiotherapy program. The only seats for physiotherapy in BC have been the 80 seats at UBC, which isn’t nearly enough to satisfy the therapy needs of our province. Training physiotherapists at UNBC will allow more graduates to stay in the north to address the health needs of our communities. It is well known that training in the north leads to recruitment and retention of northern graduates.
Northern Health has also offered to provide more training opportunities for physiotherapists throughout Northern Health, which will greatly enhance the services to our northern residents. Having the training program at UNBC also allows the program to be tailored to the Northern and Rural communities as well as to Indigenous communities. The Minister announced that this will become a joint program with students graduating with a UNBC/UBC degree which enables UNBC to tailor the program to meet our specific needs.