Student Placement Opportunities
BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services is committed to providing meaningful and quality placements for students in British Columbia and supporting them in their career development.
BCMHSUS partners with educational institutions to offer placement opportunities, residencies and periodic fellowship opportunities for college and university students. These experiences enable students to learn key lessons, share new ideas and perspectives, and increase their confidence.
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All placements are coordinated directly through your learning institution, for students from BC and the rest of Canada. Please contact your placement coordinator directly.
Potential placements at BCMHSUS
Our employed student nurse (ESN) program provides a nursing employment opportunity to work in a clinical setting with 250 to 400 hours of paid hands-on experience.
These hours will help you consolidate your theory and clinical skills, build on your nursing practice, and participate as a team member. In many cases, you can also apply your earned seniority toward your first job with us.
Employed student nurses are welcome to apply in the following locations:
- Forensic Psychiatric Hospital - Coquitlam
- Provincial Assessment Centre - Coquitlam
- θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (Red Fish Healing Centre) - Coquitlam
- Heartwood Centre for Women (requires incumbent be female) - Vancouver
- Correctional Health Services:
- Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre (VIRCC) - Victoria
- Alouette Correctional Centre for Women (ACCW) - Maple Ridge
- Fraser Regional Correctional Centre (FRCC) - Maple Ridge
- Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre (KRCC)
- Okanagan Correctional Centre (OCC) NFPRC
- Surrey Pretrial Services Centre (SPSC)
- Nanaimo Correctional Centre (NCC)
- Prince George Regional Correctional Centre (PGRCC)
- Community transition teams
We offer residencies and periodic fellowship opportunities to qualified applicants in a variety of areas. For medical residency opportunities, please contact the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia.
θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (Red Fish Healing Centre)
Residencies at the Red Fish Healing Centre are only available to medical residents in a Canadian postgraduate medical education program or to trainees under an accredited addiction medicine fellowship. Priority is given to trainees under the BC Centre for Substance Use addiction medicine fellowship and thus placements are typically full from cycle to cycle.
Correctional Health Services
All graduate and post-graduate medical placements are coordinated by institutions on behalf of students. Contact your university or college to explore placements with Correctional Health Services.
Forensic psychiatric clinics and Forensic Psychiatric Hospital
All learning opportunities in forensics are coordinated through the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Persons interested in doing electives at either the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital or the Victoria or Kelowna regional clinics should contact UBC for details.
Our psychology department offers practicum placements for doctoral-level clinical psychology students in several program areas including the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital, regional forensic clinics, and θəqiʔ ɫəwʔənəq leləm’ (Red Fish Healing Centre).
How to apply
Submit your queries regarding current opportunities to our training director, Dr. Shauna Darcangelo, at sdarcangelo@phsa.ca.