Challenging the future, changing our world

“CAMOSUN IS OUR COMMUNITY’S COLLEGE. OUR LIFE-CHANGING APPROACH TO HEALTH EDUCATION BENEFITS EVERYONE.” SHERRI BELL, PRESIDENT, CAMOSUN COLLEGE

By Sherri Bell, President, Camosun College

I know we all appreciate having competent, qualified professionals when we go for a medical or dental appointment but how many of us question how these individuals came to have the knowledge and skills on which we depend? I’m guessing that if you asked your practitioners in Victoria, you would find many were trained at Camosun College. We have been educating health care professionals for more than 47 years, ensuring they are well prepared to serve you and to enjoy a career in the highly valued health care profession. Camosun is an innovative leader among Canadian colleges. We strive to create truly life-changing learning opportunities for our students which include applied experiences such as co-op work terms, internships, practical lab work, work-site and community opportunities. In order to achieve that, we must ensure that our students have both the latest knowledge and the applied technical skills to adapt to our world’s changing economic and social demands. It also means integrating more collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching and learning methods into our overall learning plans. One such example of this type of learning will be found in the Alex & Jo Campbell Centre for Health and Wellness set to open at Interurban campus in 2019. This leading-edge facility will bring over 1,000 emerging health professionals in 15 different health and human services programs under one roof in order to foster collaboration. With over 19,000 students in over 160 programs, 1,200 employees and an annual budget of $126 million, Camosun College generates an impressive $1 billion in economic impact for the Victoria region annually. What’s more important, however, is the enormous and invaluable impact Camosun students and graduates make, equipped with the latest skills and knowledge, on the social, cultural and economic success of our region. Camosun College alumni help our community flourish and our economy grow: nurses, accountants, carpenters, dental hygienists, mechanical engineers, medical radiation technologists, to name a few. Upon graduation, 85 per cent of our students stay in the region, working to make life in Greater Victoria better every day!