This UBC practicum model supports PharmD students working (and hopefully staying) in underserved parts of B.C.

Canada has a pharmacist shortage—especially in rural parts of the country, where local pharmacies struggle to attract and retain. The problem starts in pharmacy school: for students who are assigned to complete practicums in rural areas, it can be hard to secure housing and forge connections in the community. That’s why the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences' Office of Experiential Learning has developed a new Regional Practicum Model. The hope, according to Neelam Dhaliwal and Janice Yeung, two of the UBC faculty involved in the model, is to ease student transition and relocation, allow the students to create deeper connections to underserved communities around B.C., increase student interest in practicing in different parts of the province and support the healthcare needs of these underserved areas. According to Dhaliwal, PharmD students at UBC go out on practicum multiple times during the four year program. Often, students are sent all over the province, relocating every couple of months or so. And while it’s great for students to work in a wide array of environments, there are real cost, relocation and transportation barriers. “Relocation between sites is jarring,” Dhaliwal says. “And short-term rentals are usually more expensive and don’t give you that opportunity to settle and be involved in the community outside of that eight-week chunk of time, which is so busy because they’re on site working all day.”Instead, this new Regional Practicum Model will have third and fourth year students doing all their rotations in one defined area of the province with UBC’s partners who give their time and mentorship to the students. These placements do include rural areas, but they can take place anywhere outside of the densely populated Lower Mainland. Yeung says that students (who must complete a rotation in a hospital) might be placed in a hospital in an urban centre like Victoria or Kelowna before going on to complete a rotation within the geographic region, like nearby towns or villages that are driving-distance away. The Regional Practicum Model is not just about making moving easier: spending more time in one geographic region will allow students to put down roots, encouraging them to practice there upon graduation. “Hopefully, they’re developing connections with the community and practitioners in that area, as well as patients and building that rapport and seeing what it might be like to practice there,” Yeung says. “And hopefully, they’ll consider those areas as opportunities for career advancement.” Yeung, Dhaliwal and the experiential learning office has been developing this model since 2020 and the pilot, with seven students enrolled, launched this past school year, ending in April 2025. Students will also be enrolled for the next school year. Yeung and Dhaliwal couldn’t share all the data from the new model as they’re still evaluating it; anecdotally, they’ve received positive feedback on the program. Eventually, Yeung and Dhaliwal want the program to grow and see more graduates working in these underserved parts of B.C. “Our mandate is to provide patient care across the province and to increase student interest,” Dhaliwal says. “That’s where our partners see value: come to my community for a little bit and see what it’s like to live and work here and what work-life balance is within this space.”

This UBC practicum model supports PharmD students working (and hopefully staying) in underserved parts of B.C.

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