The Northern Medical Program at UNBC is trying to encourage more Aboriginal students to join medicine.

The UBC Faculty of Medicine, which administers the program at UNBC, has announced they are setting aside five percent of their available seats specifically for qualified Aboriginal students.

2nd year student Randi George is currently the only Aboriginal woman in the program.

“The last time there was an Aboriginal Female in the Northern Medical Program was at least 4 years ago” said George. “It’s definitely not enough, it’s definitely not representative of the population.”

She says getting into the program isn’t easy, especially for Aboriginal students.

“There’s a lot of effects left over from colonization that are still going on that put up barriers for people of Aboriginal descent to pursue a higher education” said George. “Not that we can’t, there’s just a lot of barriers there and we need to open more doors.”

To try and attract applicants, the University held an open house to answer questions and introduce Aboriginal students to the program.