The UBC Faculty of Medicine is the medical school of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. It is one of 17 medical schools in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the only one in the province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It has Canada's largest undergraduate medical education program and the fifth-largest in the U.S. and Canada. It is ranked as the 2nd best medical program in Canada by

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

, and 27th in the world by the 2017

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

History

The Faculty of Medicine was established in 1950 in Vancouver, taking in 60 medical students under the leadership of its first dean, Myron Weaver. The size of its incoming medical classes was increased to 80 students in 1974, 120 students in 1980, and 128 students in 2000. Starting in 2004, the medical program bega
a gradual expansion
that more than doubled enrollment and distributed medical education and training at campuses, hospitals and clinics throughout the province. The size of incoming medical classes grew to 288, with one-third of those students spending most of their four years at one of three distributed sites in northern British Columbia, the B.C. Interior or

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. The size and geographic scope of the Faculty of Medicine's 71 medical residency programs also grew correspondingly. Since its founding, the Faculty has added other educational programs, including physical therapy, occupational science and occupational therapy, audiology and speech sciences, midwifery, and population and public health. In January 2021, Peter Berman, the head of the medical faculty's School of Population and Public Health apologized after taking an international vacation to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

over the holiday season contrary to public health advice to avoid international travel during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. After his trip was reported on, Berman said that he regrets not having made the same sacrifices as everyone else and stated his support for public health authorities.

Research

Most research by the UBC Faculty of Medicine is conducted under the auspices of six institutes and 15 centres that are part of UBC or affiliated with it. Some researchers are based at UBC's Vancouver campus, though many work in the Faculty of Medicine's affiliated hospitals, especially in Vancouver:

Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver General Hospital (locally known as VGH, or Vancouver General) is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facilit ...

, the

BC Cancer Agency BC Cancer is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority in British Columbia, Canada. Facilities BC Cancer's first cancer treatment centre (then known as the British Columbia Cancer Institute) officially opened in Vancouver on November 5, ...

, St. Paul's Hospital, BC Women's Hospital + Health Centre and BC Children's Hospital. Members of the Faculty of Medicine are responsible for 132 patents issued or filed, and the creation of six spin-off companies. The Faculty of Medicine has more than 300 postdoctoral fellows and almost 600 PhD students. The Faculty of Medicine had one Nobel laureate, Professor of Biochemistry Michael Smith, who received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in developing site-directed mutagenesis. Smith also received the

Canada Gairdner International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a p ...

in 1986. Two members of the Faculty have received the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award: James C. Hogg (2013) and Michael Hayden (2011). Julio Montaner has received several awards for demonstrating the effectiveness of

Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multip ...

(HAART) in the treatment of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

infection, and championing the " Treatment as Prevention" strategy for controlling the spread of the disease.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:UBC Faculty of Medicine Medical schools in Canada University of British Columbia