Welcome, Students and Faculty
Island Health is committed to supporting students through safe and supportive learning opportunities.
This page is for local, provincial, and national public and private post-secondary institutions, as well as other agencies that are interested in placing students in an Island Health facility relevant to a student’s field of practice or study.
Island Health recognizes the importance of students and continuous learning. Our goal is to provide a broad scope of learning opportunities, in collaboration with our academic partners, for students and practitioners from all healthcare disciplines.
We welcome students’ energy, perspective and commitment to learning.
Practice Education Networks
Island Health uses a Practice Education Network (PEN) to advance student practice initiatives across the island.
PEN provides a forum for partnering agencies to collaborate, coordinate and advise on practice education activities and initiatives.
Observational, Job Shadow & Return-to-Practice Experiences
Island Health has necessary processes established though the Unaffiliated Learning Experience Policy and Procedure.
For information, email [email protected]
Student Placement Requests
To learn about Student Practice in BC visit the BC Student Practice Education (SPE) website. The links and resources provided on the BC SPE webpages are intended to augment communication and collaboration for all those engaged in student placements in the health system throughout B.C.
In August 2022 the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training released a Provincial Student Practice Education Policy to guide Student Practice Education in BC.
To request a student placement with Island Health:
Educational Affiliation Agreements (EAA)
- The first step to coordinating a student practice experience, a fully executed (signed) Educational Affiliation Agreement (EAA) between Island Health and the Post-secondary Institution (PSI) needs to be in place for student placement coordination to move forward.
- An EAA is a legally binding contract entered into by the Health Authority and the PSI where the student is enrolled. The EAA defines the roles and responsibilities of the health authority and the PSI in providing practice education and addresses the risks in the relationship for both organizations, their employees, patients, faculty and students
- Executing an EAA can take up to six months. Please contact the Student Practice program at [email protected]
- Island Health uses the standard provincial Educational Affiliation Agreement Template. Island Health does not accept modifications to the standardized provincial Educational Affiliation Agreement.
- For more information, read the Affiliation Agreements in British Columbia (BC): Frequently Asked Questions.
- Island Health is not able to accommodate requests for student placements from internationally-based schools at this time.
Post-secondary institutions with Health Science Placement Network (HSPnet) accounts
- We ask that students do not contact the practice setting or an Island Health employee about student placement opportunities. All placements must be requested through academic personnel. Post-secondary insitutions (PSIs) and placement sites should avoid contacting each other to arrange student placements. This practice is essential to maintain anonymity, prevent bias, and ensure adherence to placement priorities as outlined in the Practice Education Guidelines: Guiding Principles BC.
- Island Health uses HSPnet, an online practice education management system, to coordinate and mange student placement requests. Placement requests are coordinated based on geographic region. Local publicly funded PSIs are provided priority of acceptance before out-of-region or out-of-province placement requests are considered.
- Once the EAA is signed, the post-secondary institution enters the placement requests through the Health Science Placement Network (HSPnet) by selecting B.C.
Steps for placement requests:
- Once the EAA has been confirmed, the PSI submits a placement request(s) through HSPnet.
- Accepted placements:
- The PSI is informed through HSPnet that the request(s) has been accepted. It is the PSI’s responsibility to confirm placement and provide the name of the student in HSPnet. The PSI will then reach out to the program area or preceptor to arrange scheduling with the student.
- Declined placements:
- All declined request(s) are sent back to the PSI and a new request(s) can be submitted through HSPnet.
Post-secondary institutions without HSPnet accounts
If your program is outside of B.C. and you meet all of the requirements above, we will arrange guest access to HSPnet for you by emailing [email protected].
Requirements
What are the requirements that a confirmed student and faculty need to complete prior to their placement at Island Health?
- It is the PSI’s responsibility to ensure their student(s) and faculty completes all the required pre-requisites prior to the start of the placement.
- Failure to complete the requirements may result in a delay of the placement.
- We require students and faculty to complete:
- If you have further questions, please contact [email protected]