WATERLOO – Students hoping to become doctors, occupational therapists, dentists or health researchers began their first day of classes in Wilfrid Laurier University’s new honours health sciences BSc program.

Enrolment exceeded expectations with 73 students, who will be formally welcomed to the program at an orientation event, Sept. 17 in the science building atrium, from 5 to 7 p.m.

“A lot of people look at this as a pre-med or a pre-dentistry program,” says Dr. Rick Elliott, health sciences coordinator and associate dean of science. “What we’ve created is a pre-professional program that, regardless of any individual’s long-term goals, will produce graduates who are well-grounded in the life sciences.”

Following two years of required science courses ranging from health sciences and biology to psychology and mathematics, students can choose to enter a bio-med, med-chem or med-psych stream. Faculty members will advise students which courses to take for specific career fields and help them prepare for pre-professional entrance examinations.

“We expect the health sciences program to be very popular, and this year's inaugural class will have the unique opportunity to be there as the program grows and develops,” said Peter Tiidus, acting dean of science. “Health sciences is Laurier’s first multi-disciplinary science program, and one of the few existing programs at the university level to focus solely on health sciences as opposed to health studies and social sciences."

The program incorporates experiential placements and volunteer opportunities to allow students to see the diversity of possibilities in the health-care field and let them experience health-care environments first-hand.

“Some students have never been exposed to the sights and sounds within a hospital or nursing home,” said coordinating committee member and professor Dr. Renée MacPhee, who has worked in local emergency rooms for 16 years. “Field placements are important for students to understand the diversity of the patient population. It’s not just young, healthy people who get sick – there are elderly people, homeless people and people with mental health issues.”

Laurier hopes to develop links between the program and hospitals, local organizations and other educational institutions to emphasize the team-based approach to health care.

The program also has a community component. “We encourage people in the community to contact us and explore opportunities to work together,” said MacPhee. “We also hope that our graduates will find their way back into our own health-care community to work.”

For more information about the health sciences program, visit the health sciences website.