CNC to delay sonography program

The College of New Caledonia will not be accepting students to its new sonography diploma program until September of 2019.

The training program was scheduled to begin at CNC’s Prince George campus next fall, but will be delayed in order to ensure the program offers students the best quality of education and clinical placement, according to a statement issued by the college. The program was announced last March after the college received close to $2.4 million in operating and capital funding from the provincial government.

Northern B.C. is currently facing a shortage of ultrasound technologists, according to a human resources report released by Northern Health earlier this month. As a result of the delay, the first graduates would not enter the health system until after the fall of 2021.

Diagnostic medical sonography, also known as ultrasound, uses high-frequency sound waves to monitor developing fetuses as well as body structures such as muscles, blood vessels and internal organs. The British Columbia Institute of Technology in the Lower Mainland is the only post-secondary institution in the province to offer a training program in sonography.

Alyson Gourley-Cramer, executive director of communications for the college, said CNC’s program was delayed partly because clinical placements are not yet fully in place. The development of the curriculum for the program and the process for gaining full accreditation also played a role in the delay.

“We need to ensure that the program is ready to run,” Gourley-Cramer said. “In delivering something so new to the region and within the province, it’s taking a little longer than expected.”

The college is continuing to work with BCIT to develop curriculum for the program and to ensure clinical sites are ready for students.

“We want the student experience at CNC to be the same calibre as the south,” said CNC dean of health sciences Glenda Vardy Dell in a statement.

“Currently, CNC is working with two sonographers as well as the BCIT Technology to establish a curriculum that does just that.”

Once intake begins, the full-time program will run for 27 months, including 46 weeks of clinical placements in hospitals or clinics.

In delivering something so new to the region and within the province, it’s taking a little longer than expected.