UBC's 2 yr Program or BCIT's 3 yr Program

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Hello All,

I am desperate to find out further information on which program is more ideal. I live in Vancouver and I am 24years old and thinking of applying to Nursing school in the next couple of years. I have been looking at the UBC 2 yr program and BCIT's 3 yr program. BCIT seems to offer the ability to gain more clinical first hand experience but I love the idea of doing the program in 2 years. I also am finishing up a Political Science degree so would I be totally lost in the 2 yr program?

My concern would be that if I did the UBC program, I might not be as prepared as the other nurses with 3 or 4 years under their belt. Is this the reality?

If anyone has any first hand experience with UBC or BCIT for their nursing program that would be great!

I think that in choosing between UBC and BCIT, it's not so much what the programs themselves are like, but it's more about the affiliations and the connections that the programs have with each hospital in the community.

Although both programs do send their students to hospitals of various health authorities in the lower mainland, I think that UBC is still very heavily affiliated with Vancouver Coastal Health. BCIT is more heavily affiliated with Fraser Health. In fact, BCIT's nursing specialty courses are what Fraser Health uses to train their specialty nurses. Vancouver Coastal has their own in-house training programs for specialty nursing.

I also hear that the UBC program does an extensive pediatric rotation and has many placements at Children's Hospital (which is the provincial health authority, PHSA). However, the BCIT program does not.

So I guess in my opinion it would boil down to which health authority / hospital you might perceive yourself working for. And which specialty or area in nursing you want to pursue. Some units of certain hospitals will have a preference for certain grads from certain nursing programs because of the placement or faculty relationships.

I'm just finishing off my degree at UBC and was in the first year of the new curriculum. Unless you are interested in becoming an administrator (which UBC seems very interested in producing, at the expense, I would say, of bedside skills), I would say BCIT's program may be more comprehensive.

It's true that we had a lot of clinical hours, and thank goodness I had amazing clinical instructors (not everyone did) because that is where I learned almost everything. We wrote paper after paper, but the few labs that we did have were a rushed, confusing, understaffed disaster and I felt completely unprepared for my initial clinical experiences. I can critique a research paper and discuss ethics like nobody's business, but I've never had to write a care plan. This is not what I expected when I signed up.

It's true that UBC expects you to be an independent learner, but I knew how to learn independently before I got here, and I feel like I've been too busy with the endless academic writing and APA style bibs to be teaching myself on the side.

The stress level amongst my classmates has been high (I know of at least two who started taking anti-anxiety medication in the first year), and many people feel frustrated with an administration that seems unresponsive and unapologetic to students' experience. This may be a typical nursing school experience and they may have made changes for the 2010 start, hard to say. On the plus side, some of the instructors are really wonderful and there is a strong focus on social justice, which I appreciate.

If you do go to UBC, I recommend trying to get a job as an ESN in order to get more hands on skills. If you plan to go on to a Master's level program, UBC may be the best choice, but if you want strong clinical knowledge and don't come from a science background, you may want to ask yourself if an extra year is really that long.

I missed the UBC nursing deadline cause I was still unsure if I wanted to do nursing but I did apply to BCIT and got shortlisted. I find out if I'm in for sure by the end of this month. I volunteer a Childrens hospital and really want to be a pediatrics nurse.. I hear that if I want to do pediatrics then UBC would be a better choice cause I will most likely end up getting a job at Childrens hospital since they do most of their clinicals there. Is that true? I also heard that you can go into any thing after you finish your nursing degree and it doesn't matter where you do your degree.

I hear that if I want to do pediatrics then UBC would be a better choice cause I will most likely end up getting a job at Childrens hospital since they do most of their clinicals there. Is that true? I also heard that you can go into any thing after you finish your nursing degree and it doesn't matter where you do your degree.

UBC and BCIT have very different programs, but I disagree with the fact that you should choose UBC to become a pediatric nurse at Children's. I'm sure if you asked for the statistics, they would not be significantly different. BCIT has an excellent program, you will still get pediatric experience at other hospitals (all experience is beneficial!), and you can request your final preceptorship to be at Children's. Also, as part of the BCIT program you will be taking 2 specialty courses (so you could choose pediatrics), which gives you an extra edge when applying there for a job :)

In the end you need to look at what program is right for you - but they will both allow you to become a pediatric nurse at Children's!

I would have to respectfully disagree with the above poster's comments.

Langara and UBC have the most placements at Children's Hospital, and also they have kept their ESN (Employed Student Nurse) programs. Especially in today's job market, ESN-ing makes a big difference because you can accrue seniority. You can then apply to jobs that are considered internal staff postings just before graduation.

BCIT has dumped the ESN program and has gone now with a co-op paid preceptorship format. On one hand, this is great because everyone in the class gets paid (via bursary). Unfortunately no seniority is accrued in preceptorship, and none of the students are allowed to participate in being an ESN if they go to BCIT. That means when you graduate, you cannot apply to "internal" job postings - only external. That can be a hard blow in a job market like today.

BCIT also does not have many placements at Children's. Their initial pediatrics component in the program is only 4 weeks long. Even if you request a final placement at Children's, it is REALLY HARD to get placed there from BCIT. Literally, like maybe 2 people in the entire class. The competition is insane.

This quarter, Children's Hospital is only taking in 12 new graduate hires. If you can get into UBC and Langara and become an ESN at Children's Hospital, that is your best bet.

Otherwise, in my opinion, the rest doesn't matter. It is the access to the good placements, the learning on the job, team-oriented attitude (get along well with coworkers), and the proving that you can take on a full patient load on your own, that's what gets you hired in the end.

Of course, I am only talking about being hired directly out of school into Children's. I'm sure someone who does some other kind of nursing and gets experience, might be able to network their way into Children's if they know someone who works there.

Good luck!

hello123, i am quite curious - why is it that you are so against BCIT? :confused: I feel as though we have this UBC vs BCIT battle in every thread :p

Hello jasn,

I think you need to understand what dumping the Employed Student Nurse program means - the reasons I give above are extremely valid - they have nothing to do with the educational quality of the programs of BCIT or UBC, but have to do with your marketability as a new grad after you've graduated from BCIT. If you can't ESN, you're going to be behind ALL the other nursing schools in the lower mainland who still can ESN, because they get first dib on the jobs, since they ESN'ed at the hospitals. That includes Douglas College, UBC, Langara College, even Kwantlen College. BCIT is now BEHIND them because their students can't ESN, and employers tend to hire ESN's first, especially in a limited nursing job market like today.

Now, if you're a BCIT student and you're NOT allowed to ESN, doesn't matter how stellar you are as a student - you're going to be less favoured than ESNs by potential employers out there - because of the fact that ESNs get to apply to INTERNAL JOB POSTINGS (i.e. job postings that only existing staff can apply to, and not people who don't work for the health authority such as new grads who have not ESN'ed).

Do you understand what I'm saying? It's definitely not a BCIT vs. UBC thing, it's just a "BCIT made a less-than-favourable move by dropping the ESN program" thing.

Is it really hard to get into bcit? Very competitive?

Hi Neir, I wouldn't say it's "hard" (as in the requirements to apply and the process of application) but it's definitely competitive due to the limited number of seats per intake vs. a large pool of applicants per cycle. Good luck!

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