Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
UBC - A Place of Mind
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2012 / August / 29 / Back to school update: Southern Medical Program
Health

Back to school update: Southern Medical Program

August 29, 2012

Third year UBC med students begin clinical training rotations at Interior Health hospitals

Starting in the fall of 2013, the UBC Southern Medical Program’s (SMP) inaugural class will begin their third year clinical training rotations at Royal Inland Hospital, Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Kelowna General Hospital, or Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital.

To help prepare for the steady influx of SMP students, 20 third-year medical students from across the distributed MD Undergraduate program are beginning full-year rotations at these hospitals this September. Rotations at these sites are a direct result of the successful partnership between the UBC Faculty of Medicine and Interior Health, helping to deliver medical education in communities throughout the BC Interior.

SMP’s second cohort begin studies in Vancouver

The second cohort of 32 SMP students has begun their studies at UBC’s Vancouver campus. All 288 students from across the distributed MD Undergraduate Program spend their first four months of study in Vancouver as one large group. In early January, students from the distributed programs including the SMP, Island Medical Program, and Northern Medical Program relocate to their respective sites to complete the balance of their medical degrees. Through the use of highly-advanced videoconferencing technology, students across the distributed sites remain connected with their classmates and receive the same MD curriculum despite their geographic location.

The class of SMP 2016 will arrive on UBC’s Okanagan campus in early January to begin their studies at the Reichwald Health Sciences Centre. There, they will join the SMP’s inaugural class who will be well into their second year of their medical studies. The officially opening for the Reichwald Health Sciences Centre will be held later this September.

MD/PhD Program admits SMP Student

Sandy Wright, second-year SMP student, has been admitted into the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s MD/PhD program. The program, jointly administered by the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Graduate Studies, selects highly qualified students to combine their medical studies with intensive scientific training.

“Participating in the development and dissemination of new knowledge is an incredibly stimulating exercise in critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, developing technical skills, and effective communication,” said Wright. Wright’s research will focus on determining if deficits in neurocognitive and sensorimotor function induced by sport-related head impacts are related to alterations in cerebrovascular function for youth contact sport athletes. Under the supervision of Dr. Paul van Donkelaar, Acting Director for the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Wright will work closely with Phil Ainslie, Canada Research Chair in Cerebrovascular Function in Health and Disease  and associate professor at UBC’s School of Health and Exercise Sciences as well as Dr. Brad Monteleone, a practicing sport medicine physician in Kelowna.

New academic staff

Dr. Chris Fibiger
Assistant Dean, Research

Dr. Fibiger is a professor emeritus UBC, Psychiatry and renowned scientist and consultant in the field of neuroscience. Fibiger received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and psychology from the University of Victoria in 1966 and his PhD in psychopharmacology from Princeton University in 1970. For 28 years he served UBC, obtaining his full professorship in 1980 in addition to serving as the head of the Division of Neurological Sciences and chair of the university graduate program in neuroscience. Fibiger has authored more than 400 scientific papers focused primarily on Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, and drug abuse.

Dr. Sarah Brears
Course Director, Family Practice

Dr. Brears is a family physician and clinical instructor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine Department of Family Medicine. Dr. Brears received her medical degree as a graduate with distinction from the University of Alberta and completed her family medicine residency at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Brears has considerable experience in medical teaching as a clinical instructor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine and previously as a clinical lecturer with the University of Alberta Department of Family Medicine.

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
Media Relations Strategist
University Relations

The University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250 317 0293
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Advisory
More content from: Southern Medical Program

Trending Stories

  • UBCO Downtown
  • Gold-medal tennis player, human rights activist win UBCO honours
  • UBCO celebrates the graduates of 2022
  • Bold new plans unveiled for UBCO Downtown
  • UBCO researchers change the game when it comes to ...
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility