CNC students enrolled in the college’s first-ever medical laboratory technologist program are set to graduate this Friday, Feb. 19.
Photos by Andrea Johnson
CNC’s first Medical Lab Technologists set to graduate
For release on February 17, 2010
CNC students enrolled in the college’s first-ever medical laboratory technologist program are set to graduate this Friday, Feb. 19.
Fifteen students will receive their diplomas during a two-hour convocation ceremony beginning at 2 p.m. in CNC’s atrium.
“They are a very dedicated, enthusiastic and great group of students,” said Karen Bowers, medical laboratory technologist instructor and program co-ordinator. “They worked hard but they still found time to make life-long friends,” Bowers said of the students, who write their national certification exams Feb. 18.
A total of 14 of the 16 graduates (one student from the Lower Mainland is not attending convocation) found employment before graduation at hospitals and labs in Prince George and smaller communities such as Terrace. The remaining two students will be working as lab techs as soon as they get jobs. “Most lab technologists are retiring and there is an impending huge shortage in trained medical lab technologists,” said Bowers.
CNC’s intense 24-month program trained students to perform a variety of specialized tests using high-tech instrumentation to help physicians diagnose, treat and prevent disease. They collected and prepared specimens for analysis; testing blood, bodily fluids and tissue samples, and interpreted results. Their second-year work term between their first and second years gave them crucial practical experience.
The graduates came from a variety of backgrounds and ages – some enrolled right out of high school, others came armed with undergraduate degrees, while others were in the work force and entered the MLTS program to retrain for a new career. They all successfully met the stringent application process and needed to have high marks in high school science courses.
“The provincial government showed great foresight in funding this program since most of the students were educated in rural or northern B.C. and now they’re mostly working in smaller communities,” said Bowers.
“It has been a successful first class and well worth it.”
Friday’s convocation will be a family affair for MLTS instructor Yvonne Yaschuk, who is master of ceremonies for the event. Her daughter Sarah, 26, will be among those receiving her diploma.
“I encouraged Sarah to go into the health care field…she will make a very good technologist,” said Yaschuk.
Sarah Yaschuk is currently working on a casual basis at University Hospital of Northern B.C.
The MLTS program’s current class features 23 students and the third class just began in January with 24 students. The program has now been extended to 2.5 years because national competencies were expanded.
CNC’s MLTS program was founded in 2007, based on a partnership between Northern Health, the Northern Medical Society and regional medical laboratory technologists. Its goals are to train people from the North, in the North to work in northern B.C. It’s being funded by the B.C. Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Development and Northern Health.
Partnering with NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology) in Edmonton through a licensing and support agreement allowed CNC to launch the program very quickly, rather than develop a new program from scratch. Working with nationally-recognized curriculum benefitted students and program faculty and staff in creating a quality CNC program in a very short time. The first intake of students occurred Jan. 25, 2008.
“Obtaining and starting the Medical Laboratory Technology Sciences program has been a significant achievement for College of New Caledonia and our partners,” said Patricia Covington, Dean of CNC’s School of Health Sciences.
“I am very proud of what the program and everyone associated with it has achieved in just over two years, including full accreditation of the program by Canadian Medical Association (CMA). This program will be producing competent graduates to meet the health care needs of the North and actually all of the province, for many years to come.”
Friday’s ceremony features remarks from CNC president John Bowman, Dean of CNC’s School of Health Sciences Patricia Covington and Prince George Mayor Dan Rogers.
For more information:
Yvonne Yaschuk, CNC MLTS instructor
250-562-2131 ext. 5560
Patricia Covington, Dean Health Sciences CNC
250-562-2131 ext. 5348
Andrea Johnson, Writer/Editor CNC
250-562-2131 ext. 5348
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