Grads take up books

Page 11

The first certificate program in Aboriginal health care administration offered by the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Institute for Aboriginal Health was so successful it is being offered again, starting this month.

Twenty-one of 23 students successfully completed the first 10-month program, which is mostly run by distance education. Their graduation was held at the UBC First Nations Longhouse July 11.

Sellane Ong, program assistant with the university's continuing studies department, said that most of the graduates "are already health care administrators or health care directors of their community."

She added the graduates "said that they really benefited from this program."

The program trains Aboriginal health care administrators to set up programs and manage health care resources. It gives them knowledge enabling them to manage community-based health programs and operations while the transfer of health services to First Nations is being phased in.

Five courses are required for completion: communication and leadership; fundamentals of administration, which includes human resources activities and office conflict resolution; Aboriginal health systems; health policy; and information management, which is the use of database software.

Each course starts with a three-day weekend lecture beginning on Thursday. "That's where they have the chance to meet their instructors and also to meet their fellow participants," Ong said.

"We also invite speakers from other communities, and they share the kind of database they set up for their community." So advice about computer programs in use forms a vital component to the course, Onge said.

She added the instructors develop curricula for the course "and we provide them to the students."

The bulk of each course, for which there are usually three assignments, is completed online or through distance education.

Applicants require Grade 12 or volunteer and work experience that equals a Grade 12 education.

For further information you can telephone 604-822-1466 or e-mail ahcap@cstudies.ubc.ca for a program handbook.

The school's Web site is www.cstudies.ubc.ca/ahcap.