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Home / 2015 / June / 02 / UBC celebrates 10th graduating class in the Okanagan
Graduation

UBC celebrates 10th graduating class in the Okanagan

June 2, 2015

 UBC’s 2014 Convocation saw 1,585 degrees conferred over two days of graduation ceremonies. A record 1,650 degrees will be awarded at Spring 2015 Convocation.

UBC’s 2014 Convocation saw 1,585 degrees conferred over two days of graduation ceremonies. A record 1,650 degrees will be awarded at Spring 2015 Convocation.

Record 1,650 degrees conferred at Convocation ceremonies this week

A sea of mortarboards and gowns flows across campus June 4 and June 5 as a record 1,650 students receive undergraduate and graduate degrees during UBC Okanagan’s 10th Spring Convocation Ceremonies.

Two major milestones in health sciences are being celebrated with Convocation 2015:

  • The first class of 30 physicians will have graduated from UBC’s Faculty of Medicine’s Southern Medical Program (SMP), based in the Okanagan.
  • The Okanagan School of Nursing sees the first cohort of its “2+2 BSN program” of collaborative nursing graduates. These students streamed into UBC from Okanagan College to complete their final two years of study for bachelor of science in nursing degrees.

Fostering academic proficiency in health care has been a focus of UBC Okanagan since the beginning, says Deputy-Vice Chancellor and Principal Deborah Buszard. “Our School of Nursing is a cornerstone of UBC that has built upon a foundation of educating health professionals to provide quality care for a growing population,” says Buszard. “At the same time, more nurses are continuing in graduate studies to increase understanding in vital areas of health research that will benefit both their chosen field and the communities we serve.”

“We are so proud of our nursing graduates every year, but 2015 is extra special as our first group of 2+2 BSN students joins the rest of our four year BSN graduating class,” says UBC Okanagan’s School of Nursing Director Patricia Marck. “We expect them to contribute to our health system as new registered nurses, and we hope to see many of them back for further education over the coming years in our Master of Nursing program.”

The first graduating class of physicians is a significant development for UBC, says Buszard. “The Southern Medical Program makes an important contribution to solving the need for more doctors to diagnose and treat human health. As part of UBC’s largest medical class ever, these new practitioners will train as residents in family medicine or specialize in areas that will improve the lives of people across British Columbia.”

SMP students did most of their academic work—lectures, labs and small-group workshops—at UBC Okanagan, and received their clinical training at various hospitals and clinics throughout the Interior, says Dr. Allan Jones, Regional Associate Dean, Interior.

“We are incredibly proud of what our inaugural class has achieved during their studies with us in the B.C. Interior,” says Jones. “They have played an instrumental role in shaping the educational experience for future doctors who will study and train with the Southern Medical Program.”

Buszard, Jones, and Marck are also pleased to note the inter-professional collaborations between the medicine and nursing programs, including joint simulation exercises, community clinics, and new shared ethics education modules. “The more our health professional students learn together, the better the teamwork when they graduate and the better for patient care,” says Buszard.

UBC is also conferring honorary degrees on two distinguished scientists. Philip Currie is an internationally renowned palaeontologist whose scientific accomplishments have led to a greater understanding of dinosaurs and their scientific significance. Currie is currently professor and Canada Research Chair in Dinosaur Paleobiology at the University of Alberta.

Sara Seager is a Canadian-American astrophysicist, planetary scientist and a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is known for her work and research focusing on theory, computation, and data analysis of planets orbiting stars far from our own solar system.

BACKGROUND:

Students from across UBC’s faculties, schools and College of Graduate Studies will be conferred undergraduate, master and doctoral degrees in five ceremonies during spring Convocation, all taking place in UBC’s gymnasium:

Thursday, June 4

  • 11 a.m. – Faculty of Health and Social Development

o   School of Health and Exercise Sciences; School of Nursing; School of Social Work

  • 1:30 p.m. – Faculty of Education; Faculty of Management
  • 4 p.m. – Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies; Applied Sciences School of Engineering

o   Honorary degree recipient: Sara Seager

Friday, June 5

  • 8:30 a.m. – Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences: Sciences;

o   Honorary degree recipient: Philip Currie

  • 11 a.m. – Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences: Arts

Since UBC Okanagan opened its doors in 2005, more than 10,500 degrees have been conferred, starting with the inaugural graduating class of 468 in 2006.

More information: http://graduation.ok.ubc.ca/

 

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 Release
More content from: Faculty of Management, School of Nursing, Southern Medical Program

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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.

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

 

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