Loss of Kinesiology program will push young professionals out of the north: Lamarche

UNBC has not held any discussions about launching a Kinesiology program.

This comes one week after the College of New Caledonia axed eight programs including Kinesiology due to an eight-million-dollar revenue shortfall.

Simon Lamarche is the high-performance manager at Engage Sport North in Prince George and told Vista Radio losing it is a massive blow as the program often leads students to several rewarding career paths, some of which includes assisting our older population.

“With an undergrad in Kinesiology you can specialize in exercise physiology. So, if you think of any kind of stress test at the hospital that needs to be performed like a helicopter pilot, they must undergo stress tests and typically, with an exercise physiology degree that went into kinesiology that can administer that.”

“A kinesiologist is someone who specializes in working with aging populations. Think of our aging population in the north who have certain demands and if you want specialized people to help them, it would be great to see the north producing those people.”

The closest program to study Kinesiology for prospective students from northern BC is Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie.

Other degree programs in the province include UBC, Fraser Valley, Simon Fraser and Camosun College in Victoria.

Lamarche added moving to a different city, especially in the Lower Mainland and Victoria-area could act as a financial barrier, forcing students to pick a different career path while also studying closer to home.

This would create a lose-lose scenario for the region.

“I think it’s potentially a big loss because we are losing our potential AT’s (athletic therapist), exercise physiologists and trainers for specialized populations if you are a diabetic patient or someone with osteoporosis, cancer or someone who is an older adult.”

“In Kinesiology, you can become a physical preparation expert or a coach, so we think about the Olympics that are right around the corner and you think about exercise physiologists. So, I think these different roles are important and if we want people from the north to have, we need to have students have access to these programs.”

“To stay in Victoria is not inexpensive. Now, this is a barrier for students in the north – if we can have it at home, its accessible because people can stay with family and I think there is a much more of a likelihood that we would have people doing these professions in the north,” added Lamarche.