MD Undergraduate Education

The UBC MD undergraduate program prepares students for practice in the 21st century. With strong a  foundation in both the science of medicine, and the compassion of humanity, the UBC MD program is educating some of the best health practitioners anywhere.

The MD program is comprised of four geographically distinct sites including the Island Medical Program (IMP), Northern Medical Program (NMP), Vancouver Fraser Medical Program (VFMP), and the Southern Medical Program (SMP), which opens in 2011. There are 288 spots for incoming students, 32 for the IMP, NMP and SMP each, and 192 to the VFMP.

Since expansion began in 2004, the UBC Faculty of Medicine, in partnership with the provincial government, academic partners University of Victoria, and the University of Northern British Columbia, and all six health authorities, has more than doubled enrolment, and distributed education, clinical training, health sciences research and teaching across BC. This province-wide approach is made possible through a robust information technology system that allows instructors and students in many disparate locations to interact simultaneously, taking learning beyond classrooms and into clinics and hospitals in urban and rural settings.

The Distributed MD undergraduate program aims to improve upon the low number of rural and aboriginal students seeking medical careers, while also allowing students to complete their training in rural and underserved communities, where, as studies suggest, they are more likely to return to practice once their training is complete.

Medical education and training for students and residents is provided at more than 80 hospital and clinical sites around BC as well as at the three universities. It involves several thousand clinical teachers who balance their own medical practices with providing clinical training and mentorship.