Swinging for hope

Photo: Contributed

UBCO Medical students are raising money for Hope Air.

UBC Okanagan Medical students want to give Hope Air a lift.

The 7th annual SMP charity classic golf tournament is set to tee-off Oct. 21 at The Harvest Golf Club. "It's a best ball tournament with lots of prizes and a silent auction, you don't have to be an avid golfer to play, the emphasis is on fun and fundraising," said co-organizer Heather Derocher a second-year medical student at UBC-O. The group has a goal of  $10,000 dollars to help Hope Air carry on its work.

In 2016, the Southern Medical Program began designating up to 10 of its 32 seats each year to those with rural, remote, or northern backgrounds in an attempt to encourage students to practice as rural family physicians. 

Hope Air is an organization that works to provide free flights to people in rural and remote areas in financial need who would otherwise be unable to make it to medical appointments. "We are learning a lot about access to health care and the barriers patients face and often that can be access to services due to rural locations or financial hardship," added Derocher.

In its first year, 1986, Hope Air organized 56 flights for patients. In 2017, they organized over 11,000 flights for patients all across the country. So far in 2018, Hope Air has arranged over 800 flights arriving to and departing from Kelowna. To register for the tournament click here.