Dr. Joanna Bates is overseeing a massive project bringing together government and three universities

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Walk into Dr. Joanna Bates' Medical Expansion Program office, and you know something big is happening. Staff are energetically coordinating a massive project bringing together the provincial government, three universities (UBC, UVic and UNBC) and health authorities in a medical school expansion program aimed at easing the shortage of doctors in B.C. Integral to the project is UBC's largest new building underway on campus, the Life Sciences Centre.

Thanks to $110 million from the B.C. government, the number of first-year medical school spaces will double to 256 by 2010. As the hub for this growth, the new Life Sciences Centre will be completed by January 2005 and house one of the largest medical schools in Canada, helping position the province as a leader in life sciences research.

"The level of collaboration between the three universities and government is unprecedented in Canada in medical undergraduate education," says Dr. Bates, senior associate dean and chair of the MD Undergraduate Expansion Task Force. "The partnership ensures that universities will bring their areas of strength to the program, enriching medical education for all students."

The 40,000-square-metre Life Sciences Centre will include small classrooms, lecture theatres, advanced research laboratories and study spaces. While all students will be enrolled at UBC and receive UBC degrees, about 10 per cent will be located at UNBC in Prince George, and another 10 per cent in Victoria at UVic.

"Health needs are clearly a priority for our society," says Dr. Bates, "Implementation of the vision of this expansion will help meet the needs of rural and northern communities, aboriginal people, and the aging population."

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Government support for UBC. Provincial government support increased by four per cent to $393 million last year, mostly funding general university operations. Total federal support grew by 22 per cent to $117 million last year, with the majority of that going to research funding.

Valuable help for indirect research costs. The federal government announced a new $225 million program to support indirect costs of research at Canadian universities. The program will allow for more complete funding of federally sponsored research. Last year UBC was awarded $13.75 million under the program.