Our impressively multi-talented med students have perfectly encapsulated the journey to medicine in lipdub video form: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WThlN42CX9k#t=12. This was shown at the interviews this year, but if you haven’t seen it yet, please check it out! Most readers of this blog will probably find a lot to appreciate in the video.

Speaking (or singing) of the other side, we are slowly getting to the other side of this application cycle. Right now we are busy checking references, following up with verifiers, and getting things ready for the Admissions Selection Committee. The selection committee is made up of doctors, faculty members, medical students, and other representatives from all corners of BC who will meet soon to select the candidates for MED 2018. To give a quick refresher on post-interview selection criteria, at this point in the cycle all aspects of the file can come into play. After a holistic file review the decision to admit or not is made by consensus of the selection committee. Since the selection committee is not aware of site preference rankings, they do not determine who goes to which site – we in the Admissions Office do that later (see the previous post for more information).

After the candidates are selected, the next big thing will be the offers! Stay tuned for more posts as the offers approach. 

Last Tuesday, about half a dozen medical student volunteers made their way to Queen Alexandra Elementary school in Vancouver to read to an enthusiastic group of Kindergarteners.  The boys and girls listened intently to Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax”.

UBC MD undergraduate student, Andrew Purssell, and Julie Gelson and Melanie Moore, Queen Alexandra kindergarten teachers, discuss the success of the Reading Bear sessions.

“These children thrive with just that little bit of attention,” says Gelson, describing the immeasurable benefits of the one-on-one time her pupils receive from the volunteer medical students.

Purssell, sees the initiative as a great opportunity to develop meaningful connections in the city.  “Any time in life, it’s important to find ways to engage with your community.”

View more photos here.

Kira Dayco, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Following the approval of the Renewed Curriculum Framework Proposal by UBC Senate, course and assessment design is now underway for a second, more detailed senate submission. This document will go through internal Faculty of Medicine reviews through April, May, and June. It will then go to Senate committees and sub-committees in August and September, before going to the full UBC Senate in October 2014. The senate package will guide the detailed design of the renewed courses and assessments. The Framework and other documents are available under Reports on the Curriculum Renewal website.

The renewed year 1 courses are scheduled to launch for the 2015 – 2016 academic year. Meanwhile, the first transitional clerkship for year 3 students is scheduled to start this August 2014 in preparation for the renewed program. The transitional years incorporate scheduling adjustments that will allow the renewed years 3 and 4 to launch in Spring 2017 and Summer 2018, respectively.

For more information, the Curriculum Renewal homepage contains an interactive timeline of project activities and milestones. The recently launched Blog explores some of the ideas that are shaping the renewed curriculum, and introduces some of the people involved. If you have further questions about curriculum renewal, visit the Q&A page to submit your comments to the project team for response, or email mdcurric.renew@ubc.ca.

Michael Curry was appointed as Electives Director for the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program and Chair of the Year 4 Committee effective January 1st. Michael is an emergency physician and the department chief at the Delta Hospital. He moved to Vancouver four years ago.  Prior to that he lived in Edmonton, where he had been practising emergency medicine in an academic centre as well as working in rural hospitals. In addition to his clinical and administrative duties at Delta Hospital, Michael also serves as the education director for the fourth-year medical students rotating through the Department.

Spring has finally arrived here in the Vancouver-Fraser region.  With it, comes the promise of renewal and growth.  As we approach the conclusion of another academic year, it is important to consider that, like the transition between seasons, every ending brings new beginnings.  This year’s graduating class will be soon moving on to residencies in British Columbia and beyond; our renewed curriculum is approaching final stages of development; and, in September, we will welcome 288 new first year students into our program.

The 2013-2014 school year has been a great success for the UBC MD Undergraduate Program.  With 1156 undergraduate students studying medicine across British Columbia, we are continuing our mission to admit and educate students who will graduate with the competencies that will equip them to address the current and future health care needs of British Columbians.  Furthermore, the Vancouver-Fraser region’s richly diverse population requires the VFMP to continually consider and examine the needs of its citizens.

As many of you are aware, our program is undergoing a curriculum renewal process, which is moving along steadily.  In 2014 we have already seen the proposed curriculum approved by UBC’s Senate.  We have also been piloting new Academic Learning Centres and are excited about the expertise and interest from colleagues in the Vancouver-Fraser region.  I would especially like to thank Dr. Dan Beegan, who served as Clinical Education Lead for Fraser for approximately three years.  He has been an excellent liaison and has worked hard on behalf of our students.  We will miss him as he moves on to other things.

I, personally, have experienced some change recently with my appointment as Interim Regional Associate Dean, Vancouver-Fraser.  I would very much like to thank everyone who has assisted me with my transition into this position.  I am looking forward to working with many more of you in the coming months.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading through the stories in this update, which highlight the great work and achievements of our students, faculty and staff in the Vancouver-Fraser region.  Finally, my most sincere congratulations to the class of 2014.  Best of luck to each of you as you begin a new chapter in your career.

Enjoy the (hopefully) sunny months ahead!

Very best regards,

Amil Shah, MDCM, FRCPC, FACP
Interim Regional Associate Dean, Vancouver Fraser
Clinical Professor, Medicine

Photo credit: Scott Chin

Marie O’Conner, VFMP 2016

MedPlay, a spring tradition, celebrated its 13^th anniversary with this year’s production of 7 Stories. The play was performed from February 20 to 28 in Hardwick Hall at the MSAC.

Written by Morris Panych, the play opens with a man standing on the ledge of a building, contemplating whether or not to jump. Despite his obvious distress, he is constantly interrupted by the colourful residents of the apartment building, all oblivious to his plight. They keep him from jumping, but they also prevent any time for reflection. Although the premise is rather dark, the play is a fast-paced and hilarious look into the mores of human behaviour and, ultimately, the purpose of life itself.

The cast consisted of eight medical students from UBC Medicine’s Class of 2017: Ben Chan, Jen Clune, Amanda Dancsok, Anatoly Gusev, Benjamin Huang, Vera Khramova, Tiff Lam, and Sassan Sangsari. Two Class of 2016 students, Martha Balicki and Marie O’Connor, took charge as producers. The producers were aided by a large cadre of student volunteers who helped with a variety of tasks, including installing the stage and set into the MSAC, as well as coordinating concessions, front of house and box office staffing.

May 15 is almost NEXT WEEK!(!!!). Whether you are looking forward to that date with joyous anticipation, anxious dread, or a mix of both, it’s definitely a big day on the calendar. Our plan on May 15 is to send regrets first, then move on to the waitlist, and end with the offers. Traditionally, keeping the offers last has allowed us to focus on monitoring offer responses and answering questions without also needing to send another big batch or two of notifications just as offer responses start to come in. Please be aware that it does take us some time to send each group – we have to make sure the right notifications are going to the right people.

This is how the offers work: when we send the notifications, you will receive an email from the online application system. People who get an offer should log into OAS. There, they will see a new tab called Offer, which is where they can access the Response to Offer form, pay a non-refundable $1,000 deposit, and read important information about deadlines, other requirements, etc. People who receive regrets can log into OAS and see some of their academic and non-academic scores. Waitlisted people can’t really do much, sorry – there is no new tab and their scores will still be hidden. Offered applicants will not be able to see their scores either.

There isn’t a lot you need to do to get ready for the offers, but here are a few things to take care of:

1. Make sure your contact information is up-to-date in OAS. You can do this by clicking on your Profile tab. More instructions are in the Help Guide if you need them.
2. Decide if you can pay the deposit online or if you will need to get a certified cheque. Credit cards are not accepted for this payment.  If you have access to an account with online banking privileges at BMO, Scotiabank, RBC, or TD Canada Trust you should be able to pay online with Interac Online. However, due to Canadian banking regulations, Visa Debit card holders at these institutions will not be able to use Interac Online and must pay by certified cheque. Interac Online should work as usual for accounts without Visa Debit.
3. Traveling shouldn’t pose a big problem as long as you have internet access since you can accept the offer and pay the deposit online. The deadline for the first round is May 22 at 12:00 p.m. PDT. Deadlines for future rounds will probably be shorter. There are other forms to print out and complete by late June.
4. Keep the final transcript requirement in mind if you’ve taken any courses since June of last year. We require a final transcript from applicants who receive an offer or are on the waitlist and who have completed coursework between June 2013 and April 2014. The final transcript deadline is June 30 (grad students have until July 30 to submit their final transcripts).

If you have any general questions about the offers process feel free to comment below. Specific questions that pertain to only you are probably better addressed through an email or phone call to us. We’ll be in touch soon!

VFMP students (L-R:  Daniel Metcalf, Alex Sheppard and Erica Zallen) visit Vancouver child care centres as part of the UBC Teddy Bear Clinics, which aim to help children feel more at ease when seeing a doctor.

It is a cold, rainy March morning in Vancouver.  Parents shuffle their little ones into the warmth of the “little blue house” that is West Side Family Place, where many of them come each day to play, sing songs and create art.  Hot coffee and baked treats wait for the moms and dads who may not have had time to grab a bite before leaving home.  As the children dive into their activities, the adults chat with one another.

For over 30 years, Westside Family Place (WSFP) has been a gathering place for Vancouver parents and children.  Its mandate is to serve as a resource centre dedicated to helping families meet new friends, gain a sense of community and get support so they can raise happy, healthy children.  Eva Svensson, who used to bring her own children to the centre, is now their Family Support Coordinator.  She believes what WSFP brings to the community is very important:

“It can be a very isolating experience to become a parent.  Here we hope to break that isolation and allow parents to be around others who are going through the same things they are.  This (relating to others) is so healthy and can be preventative in so many ways.”

Today is a little different than most days at WSFP.  Each of the youngsters has brought along their favourite teddy bear or stuffed animal.  In the living room of the house, four UBC medical students have set up a “Teddy Bear Clinic”, where the children can bring their beloved toys for a pretend check-up.  The students guide the children through an exam, checking the toys’ eyes, ears and mouths, listening to their hearts and administering pretend vaccinations.

“The Teddy Bear Clinic allows children to role-play as doctors for their stuffed animals, thus gaining exposure to medical equipment and procedures in a safe environment where they are in control,” says Manisha Subedi, a second-year VFMP student.  “We hope that this experience will give them a better understanding of, and reason for, what happens in encounters with their health care providers, and thus alleviate anxiety in their future interactions.”

The Teddy Bear Clinic was started a few years ago by two second-year UBC medical students.  Svensson says the clinic has been a beneficial addition to West Side Family Place’s programming.  “It’s wonderful in that it helps the children overcome some of the fears they may have around going to the doctor.”

The medical students are grateful for the opportunity to interact and work with children and feel it will help them in their decisions regarding what kind of medicine they chose to practice in the future.  “We are grateful for the opportunity to interact with children in the community,” says Subedi.  “This (experience) is teaching us about how to communicate with our future patients.”

As for the children, they are happy to see their fuzzy friends receive a clean bill of health and delight in the stickers they receive for being such great care givers.

This is just a quick update to let you know that we sent offer, waitlist and regrets notifications to all applicants today. While our sympathies are with applicants who did not receive the news they wanted, we also want to congratulate applicants who received an offer. No matter which kind of notification you received today, thank you for being a part of our admissions process this year and best of luck with your future plans.

Since sending out the offers we have gotten many questions about many things! Here are some answers you might find useful. One section pertains to applicants who have already received an offer, while the other section is intended for applicants who are on the waitlist.

For applicants who have received an offer:

Student Numbers: Student numbers will be available through the online application system in mid-June, ideally on June 16. We will email offer accepted applicants when the numbers are ready. Current and former UBC students will continue to use their existing UBC student numbers.

Housing: For housing-related inquiries, please contact Katya at osa.coordinator@ubc.ca.

Personal Information Form: If the “email” button on the Personal Information Form does not work or if you are having other problems with the form, please save the form as an attachment and email it to mdup.lsc@ubc.ca.

Waitlist questions:

1. I received an offer, but it wasn’t to my first choice site. What are my options?
a. You can accept the offer and most likely stay on the waitlist for your first choice site (and second choice and third choice sites, if applicable). There are a couple of rare exceptions, which is why we say you will “most likely” stay on the waitlist – applicants who selected the NMP but did not complete the Rural Training section of the application will not be waitlisted for the NMP, for example. However, the vast majority of applicants will be on the waitlist for their preferred site(s). This happens automatically so you don’t need to contact us about it. Please note that if you accept the offer, you are agreeing to go to the site listed on your Response to Offer form. You will not be able to change sites unless you get another offer.
b. You can decline the offer to that site and most likely stay on the waitlist for your more preferred site(s). Same as above – the vast majority of applicants will be waitlisted for their preferred site(s), and this will happen automatically. The difference is that you are declining the offer and the site. This is taking a risk since you may not get an offer to a more preferred site, but sometimes you know a particular site just won’t work for you, and in this case it’s better to free up the spot for someone else.
c. You could decline UBC completely. This would remove you from the waitlist and you would not get any further offers from us.

2. Is my position on the waitlist of my preferred site(s) affected by accepting or declining an offer to a less-preferred site?
No, your position is the same whether you accept or decline the offer.

3. What if I have accepted an offer to my second (or third or fourth) choice and have decided I want to stay there? Do I have accept an offer to my first choice site if I get one?
No, you can stay at a less-preferred site if you want. We will take you off the waitlist for your preferred site(s). Please email us to let us know, but be aware that this decision is final and you will not be able to be put back on the waitlist for your first (or second, etc) choice site.

4. What if I have received an offer to my first choice site but want to go to my second (or third or fourth) choice?
If you receive an offer to your first choice site you will have to stick with that site. You won’t be given any other offers.

For applicants on the waitlist:

Waitlist questions:

1. Can you tell me where I am on the waitlist?
No, sorry. Our waitlist is more complicated than most due to the four sites, and we don’t reveal where applicants are, how long it is, how quickly it’s moving, etc. Our statistics page includes the number of declines from past years, but this isn’t particularly helpful since every year is different and this year is no less unpredictable.

2. When will you send the next round of offers?
It will be after the deadline for this round (Thursday, May 22 at 12:00 PST). We will try to send them on Thursday or Friday, and will update the blog when the next round has gone out.

3. I am on the waitlist but received an offer from another Canadian medical school. Can I accept the offer at the other institution but still remain on the waitlist for UBC?
Yes, that’s fine. If you get an offer from UBC and want to accept it you will need to withdraw your acceptance from the other school.

We sent out the second round of offers late yesterday afternoon. Congratulations to everyone who received an offer this round! The deadline is Thursday, May 29 at noon. We’ll send out the third round after the deadline, most likely on Thursday afternoon.

In October 1970, former UBC President Walter Gage brought together University administrative heads and long-service staff members to honour them for their contributions to the University. On that occasion, Dr. Gage directed the Personnel Department to create a club for staff members with 25 years of service at the University and this became known as the UBC Twenty-Five Year Club. The first official UBC Twenty-Five Year Club dinner was held at the Faculty Club in November of 1971.

Donna Rota (right) pictured with Dr. Gurdeep Parhar, Executive Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs.

In 2004, the University began recognizing active members who had reached the additional milestone of 35 years of uninterrupted or accumulated service.   This year, the Faculty of Medicine’s very own Donna Rota, VFMP Administrative Director, received this honour.

Rota began her career as a cashier at the University’s Finance Department 1970. Over the years she spent time at the Centre for Continuing Education, the Department of Medicine and the Department of Anatomy before settling at the Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Office.

A working mom to four children, Rota says she had always wanted a career at the University. In particular, she was drawn to medicine because of its ever changing nature. In her years at the Faculty of Medicine, there has always been something new to work on, a project to delve into or a challenge to overcome. However, more than anything, Rota values the working relationships she has fostered over the years. “I’ve worked with some really smart people,” she proudly states with a warm smile.

There have been significant changes within the MD Undergraduate Program during Rota’s tenure. What began as a small department with only five staff members, one Associate Dean and 320 students, has grown into a province-wide enterprise with hundreds of staff and over 1200 students. Rota strongly believes that the program’s success comes down to the unwavering dedication of the people involved. “It’s been critical to have a number of brains coming together to deliver the best solutions for a very complicated program,” she explains. “It is really due to the commitment of the people that work here that it has been successful…none of this has been figured out by just one person.”

Working at the Faculty of Medicine has not been without its challenges. Nevertheless, Rota emphasizes that an environment of collaboration and teamwork has been instrumental in overcoming these. “The challenges have been great,” she says, “but when you think of the number of people who have been involved…it just shows that with everyone working closely together you can often figure it all out.”

Ms. Rota’s future plans are to continue to work with the Faculty of Medicine on the implementation of the renewed curriculum. In her personal life, she and her husband plan to continue their travel adventures. “We were definitely bitten by the travel bug when we went to Italy last year,” Rota laughs. The two are also opening a family-run gelateria in Vancouver, which will certainly be enjoyed by their two young grandchildren.

We need your help to tell our story…

August 2014 marks the 10th anniversary of UBC’s distributed MD undergraduate program, and to celebrate, we are looking at the past, present and future of medical education in British Columbia.

That’s why we’re asking for your help to tell our story…

We want you to show us, and everyone else, what distributed medical education means to you. We are looking for images that represent the uniqueness and diversity in our student body, site locations and learning opportunities. Don’t forget to ensure you have the permission to take photos in clinical sites and you have the permission of anyone in the photo before you submit it to the photo contest. Read through the contest Terms & Conditions for more information.

Prizes – $25 Starbucks gift card for each of the following categories:

Early Bird (will be selected from submissions received before June 5th, 2014)

People’s choice (will be voted for online – i.e. the photo with the most “likes” on our Facebook page will be declared the winner)

Individual Sites (one prize will be awarded for each site location – IMP, NMP, SMP, VFMP)

Staff & Faculty

Who is eligible?

UBC MD students who are currently enrolled in the MDUP program. Current MDUP staff and faculty are also eligible to enter in the Staff & Faculty category.

When is the deadline?

Early bird entries should be received by June 5th, 2014. All other submissions should be submitted on or before July 15th, 2014.

How to enter?

Please fill in the fields below and read through our Terms & Conditions.

Alternatively, post your photo to Instagram and tag @UBCMDUP!

The third round of offers went out yesterday afternoon. The deadline for this round is Tuesday, June 3 at noon. Once again, congratulations to everyone who received an offer this round!

We just sent the fourth round of offers. Congratulations to the newly offered applicants! The deadline for this round is Friday, June 6 at noon.

The 2014/2015 application will open on June 11. As a reminder, the early deadline is August 15, 2014 and the regular deadline is September 15, 2014. Applicants who submit all required documents and fees by August 15 and who are invited to interview will receive their interview notification a day early and will be allowed to book their interview date and time a day before the other interview-granted applicants.

This year we are asking applicants (including reapplicants) to upload BC residency, citizenship, enrollment and name change documents directly through the online application system. It is a quick process. We will continue to transfer transcripts but will not carry forward residency, citizenship, name change, and other documents; these should be uploaded instead.

With the new application cycle starting soon we are making a change to our blog comments. Starting in late summer, comments will be enabled only for the current application cycle’s posts. This will help to avoid confusion with potentially outdated information and should make relevant comments a little easier to find. Please feel free to post your general questions for 2014/2015 here if they don’t fit anywhere else.