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Allison Verigin and Heather Gregory went to high school together, studied dietetics at UBC together – and now they're spending a one-year internship at Kelowna General Hospital. Together, of course.
Verigin and Gregory were born and raised in the small community of Castlegar. They graduated together from Stanley Humphries Secondary School before heading to Vancouver to enter into the dietetics program.
“We both still have family in Castlegar and, on top of that, we both still really enjoy what the B.C. Interior has to offer in terms of skiing, biking and all sorts of outdoor recreating,” says Allison. “So, it was a really easy choice for us when we were asked where we wanted to apply for our internship.”
Interior Health partnered with the UBC dietetics faculty in 2007 to offer a complete internship program that combines school work with hands-on clinical experience. It also provides interns with short-term placements at facilities throughout IH.
“We take two students here in Kelowna and two in Kamloops,” says Lisa Koski, professional practice lead dietitian and co-ordinator of the dietetic internship program in Kelowna.
Lisa and her Kamloops counterpart, Dawn Benwell, say many dietetic interns are hired in the health authority where they complete their internship.
Recruitment and retention is a big initiative across Interior Health. One of last year’s dietetic interns, Haeli Draper, is now working in Kelowna, and Verigin and Gregory hope to follow in her footsteps.
“We’d both like to stay and work in the area,” says Allison. “I think I’d like to stay in Kelowna and gain some experience and then one day look at returning to the West Kootenays.”
Heather agrees. She, too, would like to one day consider returning to a smaller community in the Kootenay region. But for now she wants to remain in Kelowna.
The classmates have another four months left in their internship and are looking forward to the opportunities that await.
“So far, we’ve done placements at many different sites across IH,” says Allison. “I was in Grand Forks for a week. It was nice to be so close to home and working in a professional capacity.”
Once their internships are complete, the two face one last challenge – their Canadian dietetic registration exam.
