UBC graduates record number of aboriginal MDS
Faculty’s aim is to attract them in hopes that they will return to rural areas of B. C. to practise medicine
All professional schools recognize there’s been a long history of underrepresentation of aboriginal students and the need is there.
DR. BRUCE FLEMING INTERIM ASSOCIATE DEAN OF ADMISSION
Ryan Lieph will be loading up the van and heading east in a few days, along with his wife and bulldog Max, to begin a family practice residency in Charlottetown, P. E. I.
But when the 31- year- old’s residency ends, Lieph plans to return to his reserve in Sooke or move to Burns Lake in northern B. C., where he spent time as a medical student and experienced first- hand how “seriously underserved” the community is when it comes to health care.
Lieph’s dream is one he shares with administrators of the University of British Columbia medical undergraduate degree program. They set up an Aboriginal MD Admissions Program in 2001 to try to attract aboriginal students to become doctors — ideally to work as family physicians in rural areas of British Columbia.
“We’re thrilled when students choose family medicine,” said Dr. Bruce Fleming, interim associate dean of admission for the program.
“We are hoping they will return to their rural communities and [ we are] tracking that very closely.”
Students have the option of taking postgraduate training that can last anywhere from two years for family medicine to six years for other specialized areas, Fleming explained, and the program doesn’t yet know how many will end up returning to their own communities.
Since the program started, 35 aboriginal students have completed their studies in medicine. There are another 22 enrolled in the four- year MD program.
Lieph, a member of the Sooke First Nation, is among the most recent graduates. Today, he’ll receive his degree along with 11 other aboriginal students from across the province — making it the largest number to graduate from UBC’S Faculty of Medicine to date. Eight of the 12 aboriginal students are from Vancouver Island and four are from the Lower Mainland.
“We are all very proud of these students’ accomplishments,” said Fleming.
“It has been very encouraging to see the number of aboriginal students graduating from medicine. All professional schools recognize there’s been a long history of under- representation of aboriginal students and the need is there.”
Fleming said the program aims to have aboriginal students make up five per cent of those accepted in medicine at UBC, and this year’s graduating class was near that target.
The process of selecting aboriginal medical students is just as rigorous as the nonaboriginal student base, he added.
The university also hosts programs like the Institute for Aboriginal Health’s Summer Science Program, which introduces aboriginal high school students to science and medical career role models, where they also acquire math and science skills and cultural support to succeed in higher education.