Media Releases

(Halifax, NS) - Young Nova Scotians of African descent have more opportunities than ever to learn about potential careers in health care, thanks to new camps Dalhousie University is offering through its Promoting Leadership in Health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS) initiative.

For the first time, African-descended students in grades 8 through 11 in Nova Scotia can attend African Nova Scotian Health Science Summer Camp at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish. The camp will run from July 23 to 26.

PLANS added the Antigonish camp to its 2017 roster, following the success of its first off-Dalhousie-campus camp in Sydney, at Cape Breton University, in 2016. Nine students attended this three-day residential experience. The Cape Breton camp will be offered again this year from July 18 to 21.

“We decided to expand the African Nova Scotian Health Science Summer Camps beyond Dalhousie’s campus, to make it easier for students in other parts of the province to attend,” says Michelle Patrick, program manager of PLANS in Dalhousie’s Global Health Office. “Not only does this remove a potential travel barrier, it also provides an opportunity for youth to learn about an even broader range of health-related career programs, at more universities, so they see even more options for themselves.”

The aim of the African Nova Scotian Health Science Summer Camps is to provide young Nova Scotians of African descent with a fun and informative hands-on experience to inspire them to consider a career in health care. Through exposure to more than 20 programs at three Nova Scotia universities, participants will learn about such diverse options as physician, physiotherapist, dentist or nurse; nutritionist, dental assistant, lab technician, researcher or administrator.

PLANS is launching another new program this summer, for more senior students and those who have already completed a health science summer camp. This is the PLANS Prep Institute.

“The PLANS Prep Institute is designed to provide students with more practical academic skills, such as time management, note-taking and goal setting,” Ms. Patrick says. “These skills will help them succeed in their final years of high school and prepare them to pursue a university program in the health sciences.”

For more information on the program, please visit https://medicine.dal.ca/departments/core-units/global-health/diversity/plans/plans-summer-programs.html

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For more information:
Nicole LeBlanc
Project and Events Coordinator
Faculty of Medicine
Nicole.leblanc@dal.ca
(W) 1 (902) 494-4247
(C) 1 (902) 209-6026