Two new student clubs approved at KSA executive meeting
Students from any major can join the KPU Pre-Med and Health Science Clubs in the fall semester
Earlier this summer, Tzu Cheng Yang (left) created the Health Science Club and Tisha Pann (right) created the KPU Pre-Med Club for students to take part in at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. (Submitted/Keet Kailey)
Earlier this summer, the Kwantlen Student Association approved two new clubs at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the KPU Pre-Med Club and the Health Science Club.
Tisha Pann, a business major and health science minor at KPU, decided to create the KPU Pre-Med Club to give students the opportunity to get involved with medicine related initiatives and explore their passion for healthcare and medicine.
“Our hope for the club is to be able to invite leading speakers in healthcare and medicine to provide their insights on topics, as well as to host fundraisers [in] support of health initiatives,” Pann says.
“We’re striving to create an open and inclusive environment where people of all natures and backgrounds can share a unified passion for medicine together.”
She also says medical school admission processes can be complicated as there’s often various requirements that differ from school to school across Canada. The KPU Pre-Med Club aims to provide clarity and up-to-date information regarding such admission requirements.
“Just like med school admissions requirements, they’re very open and diverse, so is our club. We’re welcoming to people from all backgrounds, majors, and degrees,” Pann says.
The club plans to have its meeting on the Surrey campus and will draw on its location to look into local healthcare systems, raise awareness about issues pertaining to the healthcare system, and ensure club members are well prepared to enter the medical field and to help bridge those gaps.
“One area that I personally see as an extremely important gap in health care to address could be the underserved and rural populations’ lack of access to basic health care, especially for Indigenous peoples,” Pann says.
“We want our club members to be well informed of some of these topical issues in healthcare. For example, Surrey citizens are facing extremely long waiting times in hospitals, [there’s] a lack of access to family doctors, and hospital transfers to Vancouver out of home base Surrey hospitals are becoming increasingly more common.”
The Pre-Med Club will be participating in KPU’s annual Welcome Week celebration where they will be giving away informative posters and swag to students, along with pins to those who join the club.
Interested students can reach out to the club at kpu.premed.club@gmail.com.
Tzu Cheng Yang, a third year healthcare student at KPU, came up with the idea to create a health club with his friends after the previous health club was shut down.
While the club is still in the process of being set up, it aims to help students, especially those in health science, to plan and register for courses in an environment that makes them feel supported and will set them up for success.
The Health Science Club also plans to offer study group sessions for club members in the fall semester, and refer members to KPU services and guidance resources when in need of help.
“Basically any first or second year that I see in-person, I would always tell them about the stories I’ve been through and warn them about, you know, what’s coming ahead of them,” Yang says. “I think that would apply but more broadly within our club.”
The club is planning to hold their first study session in the fall semester. The club is run by third year and fourth year students at KPU and welcomes students from all majors.
Interested students can email the club at kpuhsci@gmail.com.
