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$5,000 bursary lessens financial load for Camosun College student

Riley Briscoe hopes to work at Victoria hospital following completion of medical radiography program
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Camosun College student Riley Briscoe has received a $5,000 bursary from Colleges and Institutes Canada. (Black Press Media file photo)

A $5,000 bursary is helping to relieve some of the financial strain for a Camosun College medical radiography student.

Riley Briscoe received the Paul and Gerri Charette Bursary Award provided by Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) to Canadian students facing financial challenges in completing their post-secondary education.

Riley Briscoe (Courtesy of Camosun College)

Briscoe worked as a clerk in the emergency department in her hometown of Thunder Bay, Ont. for seven years before deciding to move to Victoria and enrolling in the two-year medical radiography technology (MRT) program at Camosun.

“I decided to take the program after watching the amazing work that MRTs do,” she said.

ALSO READ: Medical Radiography at Camosun offers career building skills

Briscoe works part time in medical imaging at the Royal Jubilee Hospital as a booking clerk. “Not having any family support in Victoria has made going back to school as an adult very challenging, but this money will certainly help me get through this program successfully,” she said.

Briscoe said the $5,000 bursary will help her during her upcoming clinical practicum at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

“Once I graduate I want to advance my skills in CT (computed tomography) and, hopefully, work at a hospital in Victoria.”

Bursary donor Paul Charette said a $200 bursary he was given in Grade 12 changed his life. Now that he and his wife Gerri are in a position to give back, they want to help students in need, especially those from rural communities who have limited access to bursaries and scholarships.

“Accessing post-secondary education can be absolutely transformational and opens up a world of opportunities, but we know that many students still face barriers that can be hard to overcome alone,” said CICan president and CEO Denise Amyot. “That’s why we are so grateful for the support of Paul and Gerri Charette, who made this bursary possible to help relieve some of the pressures promising students like Riley can face.”

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Camosun’s medical radiography program is a two-year, applied program that prepares students to become part of an integrated medical team as qualified medical radiation technologists. Students study human anatomy, radiographic procedures, physics, medical imaging, pathology and patient management through a combination of in-class theory and on-site clinical rotations on the south Island.


 

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