Articles tagged "Health and Social Development"
Meet Mariah Perry
November 19, 2020
Tell us your full name! Mariah Perry What did you study at OC? I took the Practical Nursing Diploma program in Kelowna and graduated in June of 2019. What did you enjoy most about your program? There were so many things I loved about the Practical Nursing program. I loved how fast it was. It took just less than two years to complete and it was very reassuring knowing that once I graduated there were so many job opportunities out there that I could start right away. I...
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Jacobs support frontline health care education with a major gift
November 13, 2020
Touring Okanagan College’s new Health Sciences Centre and seeing the modern education spaces that will help attract and retain health care professionals compelled a well-known Kelowna family to give a major gift. Mike and Kim Jacobs are donating $80,000 to the Our Students, Your Health campaign to support the completion of the $18.9 million Health Sciences Centre. The state-of-the-art Centre will educate eight frontline health care professions. “It’s incredible to see such a modern facility with all the technology and great detail...
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Student has clear vision to graduate as Health Care Assistant
October 27, 2020
Fifty-two-year-old Jacquie Thom can feel victorious as she graduates as a Health Care Assistant (HCA) from Okanagan College this month. Thom is legally blind and was born with an eye condition called coloboma. She describes her vision as blurry and like seeing through a tunnel. Yet despite her vision impairment, she was inspired to pursue a career caring for the elderly after taking care of her parents when they were palliative. “Supporting my parents showed me that it is such an honour to help someone through that period of time ...
Read more...Health Care Assistants thankful for bursary support
September 14, 2020
Twenty-three-year-old Shoshanna Fremont works the night shift as a Care Aide at a local long-term care home, a shift she loves as it gives her an opportunity to provide precious one-on-one time with residents who are up during the night. “When you get them a glass of water and take the time to hold their hand, especially when they can’t have many visitors, their entire mood changes,” says Fremont. “When I go home I take comfort that I took care of people today, I made them smile, or helped in whatever way I could.” Fremont is o...
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Major Rotary gift supports nursing education
August 10, 2020
A $100,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Kelowna Foundation Reichwald Fund will support the education of Registered Nurses (RNs) at Kelowna’s major post-secondary institutions. Okanagan College and the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) are each receiving $50,000 to support high-quality skills training and provide financial support for students in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. “We are thrilled to support our future health care workers in Kelowna and throughout the Valley,” says Catherine Comben, Rota...
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Generations of care, Human Service Work students filling sought-after profession
July 28, 2020
Though still a relative newcomer to the profession, şÚÁĎĚěĚĂgraduate Fawn Herrington is passionate about her work in the social services field. After navigating the end of a job as a dental assistant, she felt the need in 2014 to take an online career assessment. That pointed her in the direction of human service work, and she enrolled in Okanagan College’s Human Service Work diploma, graduating two years later in 2016. Now – witness to her mom’s career – Fawn’s daughter Jaden Lee is set to take the same two-year program this September...
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Kofoed family celebrates the role of nurses
June 10, 2020
A $60,000 gift from the Kofoed family will honour a very special nurse in their life, and a generation of new nurses entering the field. Jack Kofoed, and his children Jacqueline, Leah, Jillian and Jeremy are giving to the Our Students, Your Health campaign to help complete construction on a new Health Sciences Centre at Okanagan College’s Kelowna campus. Jack’s wife Leona was a nurse. She passed away in 2017, and this gift recognizes her life’s work and the special care she received during her final days, according to her family. ...
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College’s Therapist Assistant program earns new national accreditation
May 22, 2020
As career goals go, what could be more meaningful than improving someone’s quality of life? For therapist assistants, it’s more than a goal, it’s a daily reality – and you’ll find these in-demand health professionals supporting people’s rehabilitation in a vast array of settings. This spring, Okanagan College’s Therapist Assistant Diploma (TAD) program – which has been educating Physical therapist assistants (PTA), Occupational therapist assistants (OTA) and Recreation therapist assistants (RTA) for almost 30 years – has earned a...
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Nurses inspire nurses: şÚÁĎĚěĚĂhealth care students step up during time of crisis
April 8, 2020
“The community needs us.” It’s a statement that has become a rallying cry for a class of Okanagan College practical nursing students who are only weeks away from completing their studies and joining their teachers on the front line. And like many other şÚÁĎĚěĚĂhealth care students and grads, their actions are speaking even louder than their words in the face of COVID-19. Jodi Kemp is one of those students who is stepping up in a big way to support her community, her profession and the nurses she is training alongside at Kelowna Gener...
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Mother's values recognized with large gift to College
February 24, 2020
A $50,000 donation to the Our Students, Your Health campaign will recognize a mother who survived and found lessons in the horrors of Germany's concentration camps. John Sokolowski has donated $50,000 towards an Early Childhood Education classroom in the College’s new Health Sciences Centre, currently under construction on its Kelowna campus. The donation is made in memory of his mother, Janina Sokolowski. “My mom was a champion of education for as long as I can recall,” says John. “The gift to the College will help educate future...
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Councillor gives from the heart
February 12, 2020
Kelowna City Councillor and local community champion Maxine DeHart is giving a gift from the heart this Valentine’s Day. DeHart is donating to the Our Students, Your Health campaign, which is raising funds to build a new Health Sciences Centre at Okanagan College and create scholarships and bursaries for health care students. DeHart is the Campaign Ambassador for the fundraising campaign and is spearheading the media campaign encouraging others to get involved. She says the project’s goals touched her heartstrings and inspired her...
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College spotlights health care assistant training across the region
February 4, 2020
Amid surging demand for health care assistants (HCAs) across the Southern Interior, Okanagan College and Interior Health are spotlighting training opportunities in February. The College has intakes of its Health Care Assistant program starting in April at the Kelowna, Penticton and Salmon Arm campuses. Those interested in learning more about the training and career opportunities can attend upcoming info sessions: Kelowna campus – Feb. 12, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m., Room E103 (E building), 1000 KLO Rd. Penticton campus – Feb. 18, 6:30 –...
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Pushor Mitchell invests in mental health
January 28, 2020
Pushor Mitchell is donating $30,000 to aid Okanagan College students who in their careers will support people facing mental health issues, homelessness and community isolation. The law firm that has been serving the Okanagan for more than 45 years is creating two annual awards valued at $2,000 each for students taking the College’s Human Service Work program. Human Service Work professionals help people navigate through crisis or chronic situations where the person feels they need external help and guidance to move forward with th...
Read more...Nursing program at şÚÁĎĚěĚĂand UBCO recognized for innovative curriculum
October 1, 2019
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College has received long-term accreditation from the British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP), which regulates nurse training in the province. The program has been approved for the next seven years with no terms or conditions. That’s great news for current and future students, and for health care employers and patients, says Prof. Marie Tarrant, Director of the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Social Development at UBC Okanagan. ...
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