SAFETY FIRST | Lavington parents demand improvements to “busy hub” for kids’ sake [A4]
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VJH opens doors for medical students RICHARD ROLKE Morning Star Staff
New facilities at Vernon Jubilee Hospital could alleviate the North Okanagan’s doctor shortage. Renovated medical school space was unveiled on the fifth floor of the Polson Tower Friday. “We hope they will stay and practise and call this region home,” said Eric Foster, VernonMonashee MLA, of the students in the University of B.C.’s southern medical program. And that is certainly something Julia Hassler is considering. “I love Vernon, I’m sold,” said the third-year medical student who is from Saskatchewan. Staying here could become more likely if Hassler ultimately becomes a family doctor, but she may have to move elsewhere if she specializes in obstetrics. The new academic space features centralized education areas, a clinical skills room and two video conferencing rooms. “It’s nice to have a place to study,” said Erin Charman, a third-year medical student from Castlegar. “It’s easier to be here when things come up.” And while they are students, Hassler and Charman both put in a lot of hours at VJH and also find themselves on-call. “The doctors here are really great and get us involved (in cases),” said Charman. More than 40 students a year will go through the medical school
LISA VANDERVELDE/MORNING STAR
Erin Charman (left) and Julia Hassler, medical students, discuss the benefits of the new medical school space at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. at VJH. “The students bring their enthusiasm,” said Dr. George Borchert, a local physician. “It’s good for morale and it
reminds people (health care professionals) to be compassionate with patients.” The space also has an on-call sleep area and lockers for students
completing their clinical training, and the lounge has proven popular. “We can look up patient charts or do dictation,” said Hassler of the
computers in the lounge. Construction and equipment for the medical school space cost $983,000 and was funded by the Ministry of Health.
Dueck honoured with Sport B.C. athlete award
Morning Star Staff
Josh Dueck’s trophy case keeps getting bigger. The Vernon Paralympian was named winner of the Athlete with a Disability category at the 49th Annual Athlete of the Year Awards hosted by Sport B.C. Thursday in Josh Dueck Vancouver.
Dueck, newly retired from Para-alpine ski racing, won gold and silver medals at the 2014 Sochi (Russia) Paralympics, adding to a silver he won at the Vancouver Paralympics in 2010. “What an absolute honour it is to be named B.C. athlete of the year,” said Dueck. “The evening itself was a spectacular celebration of community and sport. To be recognized by this audience of sport leaders, and to follow in the footsteps of other sporting giants, is surreal. My career
and successes are deeply influenced by my friends, family and the community at large.” Dueck brought world attention to sitskiing when he became the first person to perform a back-flip on snow in a sit-ski in 2012, followed by an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres television show. Spallumcheen Paralympic wheelchair curling gold medalist and world champion Ina Forrest was a finalist in the same category. Para-alpine athlete Kimberly Joines
of Rossland, a bronze medalist in Sochi, was named winner of the Harry Jerome Comeback Award. Joines has accumulated 42 World Cup medals, including World Cup Champion titles, and 32 broken bones in her career. She came back from devastating injuries suffered in a training event at Sochi to register four podium finishes before the bronze in Sochi, and was crowned 2014 national champion in Whistler a few weeks later.
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