The high-tech companies that have helped to place the Northern Medical Program (NMP) at the forefront of technological innovation have been recognized for their contributions to the program.

MTS Allstream Inc. received the project to install multimedia equipment in the Northern Health Sciences Centre. Two lecture theatres and various labs have been outfitted with state-of-the-art videoconferencing technology and electronic control systems that will enable medical students in Prince George to be connected with their peers and professors at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Victoria. In total, MTS Allstream Inc. installed about $1.4 million worth of equipment, and supplied some services in kind. In recognition of their support, the audiovisual control room in the medical building will be named after MTS Allstream Inc.

Meanwhile, IBM and Cisco have contributed $197,000 worth of computing infrastructure and support services. The equipment includes expanding the medical program's data storage capacity and adding a powerful network switch that will effectively serve data to NMP and UNBC servers. IBM and Cisco have had a strategic alliance with UNBC to provide network equipment and services throughout the Prince George campus.

"The technology is integral to our vision for the NMP," says David Snadden, Associate Vice-President for Medicine at UNBC. "The way we are distributing all four years of a medical curriculum between Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George has never been done in Canada before."

There are 25 students in the Northern Medical Program. Classes start on January 10, 2005. The NMP is part of the UBC Faculty of Medicine offered in partnership with UNBC. Its primary objective is to educate physicians with the expertise and attitude necessary for practice in rural and northern communities.