Another Northern Medical Program (NMP) graduate is back in the North working as a specialist.

Dr. Sarah Roberts, NMP Class of 2010, has joined the BC Cancer Agency Centre for the North as its newest medical oncologist. As the Centre’s newest recruit she fills a critical need for oncology care in the North.

Raised in Prince George, Dr. Roberts graduated from Duchess Park Secondary and attended the University of Northern British Columbia, where she earned a Bachelor of Science. She then entered the Northern Medical Program at UNBC, a distributed site of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine.

After completing her medical degree, Dr. Roberts undertook a three-year residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, then a further two-year residency at the University of Alberta, specializing in medical oncology.

A medical oncologist is a physician that diagnoses and treats cancer through systemic therapy (chemotherapy and hormone therapy). They will recommend treatment programs and also coordinates with other professionals in the delivery of care.

“I am excited to be starting practice in my hometown, and I look forward to connecting with patients across the North both in person and via telehealth as part of my work,” says Dr. Roberts. “I am part of a great team at the cancer centre, and the familiarity I already have with the local medical community is going to be very helpful.”

“We are thrilled to welcome back another of our graduates as a specialist,” said Dr. Paul Winwood, Vice Provost Medicine, UNBC and Regional Associate Dean, Northern BC, UBC Faculty of Medicine. “Our focus is on training physicians who will want to work in northern and rural communities, through which we hope to contribute to a sustainable health-care system in the North.”

The Northern Medical Program is focused is on training physicians who will want to work in northern and rural communities, through which we hope to contribute to a sustainable health-care system in the North.”

In an effort to increase medical graduates in rural and remote regions of the province, the Northern Medical Program was launched in 2004.  A collaborative venture between UBC, UNBC and the Government of British Columbia, the program celebrated its first graduating class in 2008.

Upon graduation, new MDs  require a further two to five years of medical residency training (depending on specialty) before becoming fully licensed physicians who can begin medical practice.