The future of health care in the North Okanagan may exist in a classroom.
On Friday, the University of B.C. Southern Medical Program and the Interior Health Authority officially opened medical school space at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. There, students will gain hands-on experience as they move towards a medical degree.
But beyond providing these young men and women with direction in their careers, there is the hope that the medical school space will partially address the long-standing shortage of physicians in the North Okanagan.
Currently, thousands of Greater Vernon residents are without a family physician and anyone who has stood in line for hours at a walk-in clinic has faced that situation first hand. And the problem is even more severe in communities like Armstrong and Enderby where concerted campaigns to attract new physicians have met with limited success.
There is also the case that the North Okanagan has experienced challenges attracting key medical specialists.
Through their studies at the medical school, hopefully the students will have an opportunity to explore the North Okanagan and its outstanding lifestyle, and perhaps even have a chance to live here and develop relationships with the residents. Once they graduate and are looking for a community to establish a practice in, the North Okanagan may rise to the top of the list.
Only good can come from having a medical training facility right here at home.
