OCNews

Articles tagged "Health and Social Development"

Practical Nursing student, Shaylyn Douglas
New year brings new career by starting studies in January

November 15, 2021

The coming year brings new career training opportunities for Shaylyn Douglas. Douglas will be returning to the classroom in January with her sights set on training to advance her career in health care at Okanagan College. In addition to beginning the Practical Nursing Diploma program at the Penticton campus, Douglas received a financial boost to aid her studies when she won the $5,000 OC Tuition Giveaway Contest. “I wasn’t sure what career path I wanted to pursue until I had the opportunity to interact with patients in the physician’s off...

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LPN Jim Fishley
New LPN Orthopaedic Program at OC Set to Start in January 2022

September 22, 2021

Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) will have a learning option for advanced orthopaedic knowledge and skills that keeps them closer to home. The new LPN Orthopaedic Certificate offered at Okanagan College (OC) is the first of its kind in British Columbia. Launching in January 2022, the online certificate program is set to increase access to advanced orthopaedic education for nurses throughout the province and minimize travel requirements. “This program will meet the provincial need for a local solution for training opportunities to build t...

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Ty Sideroff story
Ty Sideroff

September 3, 2021

“I have always been interested in our anatomy and exercising so I enrolled in OC’s Kinesiology Diploma program. My first year was going really well, then COVID-19 hit. I was able to finish the first year in an online format. However, starting school in September completely online, I was struggling to stay engaged with my studies. Before COVID, many of our classes would be active and in the gym. I found it hard to stay present with everything online and not having the same convers...

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Gary and Sharmaine Powell in the dental clinic at Okanagan College's Health Sciences Centre.
Gift from dentalcorp to support critical skills shortage

August 27, 2021

With shortages of Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) across Canada, dentalcorp is investing in a local solution with a gift to the Our Students, Your Health campaign. Canada's leading and fastest-growing network of dental practices, dentalcorp is giving $35,000 in support of a new dental clinic inside Okanagan College's Health Sciences Centre. The modern clinic will educate CDAs for the Okanagan and beyond. “It’s important to our network and our industry as a whole to foster innovative, best-in-class professional development, among our next...

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Skoglund Family
Skogie’s 50th anniversary adds shine to student experience

July 28, 2021

Skogie’s car washes are celebrating 50 years of business by making the ride for Okanagan College students a little easier. For every year the family-run business has been in operation, Skogie’s is donating $1,000 to Okanagan College — for a total of $50,000 in honour of their half-century anniversary. “We've hired a lot of Okanagan College students over the years,” says David Skoglund, who founded the company in 1971. “We want to support young people and help them get ahead and we also wanted to give back to our community.” The gift will su...

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Shane Bishop, CEO of Catalyst Helathcare
Alumnus gives dose of support to Pharmacy Technician students

July 16, 2021

The CEO of Catalyst Healthcare is giving Pharmacy Technician students a dose of support with a gift to the Our Students, Your Health campaign. Shane Bishop, founder and CEO of Catalyst Healthcare, is donating $30,000 in support of Okanagan College’s Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus. Bishop spent his first two years of post-secondary at the College, and the gift is his way of paying it forward to the organization and its students. “Okanagan College provides access to future careers and I wanted to be part of supporting students ...

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Okanagan Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates
Oral surgeons give to thank Certified Dental Assistants

July 6, 2021

A local oral surgery group with offices in Kelowna and Vernon is investing in the education of Certified Dental Assistants (CDAs) with a gift to Okanagan College’s Our Students, Your Health campaign. Dr. Richard Bell, Dr. Russell Naito and Dr. Tom White of Okanagan Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates are donating $30,000 to support a state-of-the-art dental clinic in the College’s new Health Sciences Centre. The surgeons say the gift is a way to recognize and celebrate the work of their current staff and past employees. “We want to sh...

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Allan Coyle and Nick Melemenis OCAA
Alumni Association honours essential workers; provides support to next generation

April 12, 2021

For 18 years, the Okanagan College Alumni Association (OCAA) has honoured OC graduates whose extraordinary contributions have positively impacted those close to home and around the world. In a year like no other and for the first time in the awards’ history, the OCAA is celebrating multiple recipients of this prestigious award: essential workers. “This year we decided to do things a little differently and honour all alumni who have been working hard in our community to keep us all safe,” says OCAA Vice President Nick Melemenis. “This pandem...

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Vanessa Marshall (right) practicing her skills on fellow Therapist Assistant student Hannah Koch
Long connection inspires major gift by Friesen family

March 22, 2021

A decades-long connection to Okanagan College and a desire to give back to community is inspiring a $150,000 donation by the Friesen family to the Okanagan College Foundation. The family gift will support the Our Students, Your Health campaign to complete and equip the College’s new Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus. The gift reflects a strong connection to the College. Dianne Friesen worked at Okanagan College in the mid-1970s. In 1984, her husband Rod started Voyager RV and their son Jason who is running the business is gratefu...

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First-year nursing student, Katelyn McGillivray
Retired nurse donates $50k to Health Sciences Centre

March 11, 2021

Many things have changed since Delphine Stone went to nursing school more than 60 years ago, but she’s sure one element still holds true: the positive role education plays in one’s life. In honour of the value of education, Stone is donating $50,000 to the Our Students, Your Health campaign for a new Health Sciences Centre on the Kelowna campus. “Education really changed my life,” recalls Stone, who was the youngest of 11 children and grew up on a farm near Battleford, Saskatchewan. Stone remembers receiving a $100 award from the Hospita...

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Kinesiology alumnus Jordan Boultbee, during his time as a Penticton Vees hockey player.
Meet Jordan Boultbee, Kinesiology student

February 9, 2021

Q: What’s your hometown? A: Penticton, British Columbia. Q: How did you end up at Okanagan College? A: I first began at Okanagan College, back in 2013 the year following my graduation. I was playing junior hockey for the Penticton Vees, but wanted to keep my mind sharp, so I enrolled in a few college-level courses. I returned to Okanagan College around 2015 in the Trades program, before finally realizing my passion and enrolling in the Human Kinetics program in 2018. Q: How did you...

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Kinesiology alumnus Ty Sideroff stands with his mountain bike with Skaha Lake in the view behind.
Meet Ty Sideroff, Kinesiology student

February 9, 2021

Q: What’s your hometown? A: I was born and raised in Summerland. Q: How did you end up at Okanagan College? A: Exiting high school, I was unsure of what I wanted to do. I felt that the Okanagan College in Penticton was a low-risk, high-reward option. Staying local was important to me, but it was also hard to argue with small class sizes, hands-on labs and affordable tuition. Q: How did you choose your program? A: I’ve always been fascinated by the human body and how it works. The ...

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Jim Hodgson and Joy Bianco
Giving to the health of the community

January 29, 2021

A retired Kelowna couple are donating $30,000 to Okanagan College’s Health Sciences Centre to support the health of the community. Jim Hodgson and Joy Bianco are supporting the Our Students and Your Health Campaign with a gift they say recognizes their passion for the Okanagan. “Kelowna is a beautiful place. We’ve seen so many changes here for the positive, and it’s feels good to support the community,” says Bianco, who was born in Kelowna but spent her formative years in Vancouver. Bianco adds education has always been central to her fami...

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Headshot of Practical Nursing Instructor Pamela Rouse with "Meet Your Instructor" text overlain
Meet Pamela Rouse, Practical Nursing instructor

January 4, 2021

What is your education and experience? I was born in Vancouver and lived there until I moved to the Okanagan with my husband and two teenage children in 2010. I attended UBC and achieved my BScN and then specialized in orthopedics and adolescent medical/surgical care at B.C. Children’s Hospital. I worked there for 20 years prior to starting my teaching career in the Practical Nursing program at Vancouver Community College. I began working at OC on a term instructor basis in 2011 an...

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Screenshot of five panelists talking on a call
OC’s Thurnheer sheds light on lessons from the pandemic in CPHR virtual roundtable

December 8, 2020

Laura Thurnheer, Okanagan College’s Associate Dean of Science, Technology and Health, was one of four panelists on the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) Canada virtual roundtable on Dec. 1. Titled, “In Conversation with HR Leaders,” the session saw human resources specialists from across Canada discuss next steps on workplace recovery from the pandemic, asking crucial questions around changes made in light of the pandemic, mental health and attracting and engaging talent. With close to 300 attendees, the event also gave thos...

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HCA student
Revelstoke, Vernon student access improves with special Health Care Assistant program intake

November 23, 2020

Training for one of B.C.’s most in-demand professions is coming to Revelstoke and Vernon this January, in a special intake designed to make the most of Okanagan College’s blended learning opportunities. “The need for health care assistants across B.C. has never been greater. Join the frontlines and be a health-care hero for our most vulnerable citizens while also building a career for yourself,” said Sandra Hohmann, Recruiter, Interior Health. The intake will feature OC’s signature hands-on learning in labs, allowing students to build their...

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