New program trains international students to work in variety of settings
The pandemic uncovered several flaws in the Canadian health-care system, including overburdened long-term care facilities, overworked staff and skilled labour shortages in this vital industry. Luckily, there is a community of innovators that is already working to solve these problems. This includes Vancouver Island University, which has just introduced a new program to help provide more health-care professionals by tapping into the international student market.
The Mental Health Care Assistant Diploma program trains international students to practice in diverse health care and mental health settings. Students learn to help clients with daily living activities. They also gain the skills to enhance client quality of life and mental well-being.
Why take the program?
The two-year program is a combination of two certificates that are already available at VIU:
- Health Care Assistant (HCA) Certificate Program
- Community Mental Health Worker (CMHW) Certificate Program
Graduates will be able to meet clients’ basic needs. This includes providing support for mental health challenges. They can work in hospitals, long-term care settings and community settings.
Work opportunities for international students after finishing the program:
Graduates can expect to find work in a range of different jobs, including:
- Health care aide
- Hospital attendant
- Long-term care aide
- Nurse aide
- Nursing attendant
- Orderly
- Patient care aide
- Patient service associate
- Personal care attendant – medical
- Psychiatric aide; and
- Resident care aide.
The BC government has designated these occupational groups as growing opportunity jobs, which means that these jobs are expected to have greater demand and higher compensation than other occupations.
Questions? Reach out to us at worldviu@viu.ca.
Got an article idea for the blog? Email students@viu.ca.