Graduation comes 5 months late for some P.E.I. college students

Some Island college students who were expecting to finish their programs last spring have just recently graduated, delayed by months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Students in health-related fields at Collège de l'Île and Holland College, such as the resident care worker program and the dental assistant program, had their on-the-job placements delayed back in March, meaning graduation didn't happen until November. 

"Most of the facilities were trying to mostly focus on COVID, and how they would handle the cases, and making sure the population would be safe first," said Vanelle Leumedjie, a student at Collège de l'Île who recently completed the resident care worker program. 

I think in the health programs, it's been particularly stressful for students.— Donald DesRoches, Collège de L'Île  

The delay was financially difficult for Leumedjie, since she couldn't earn as much money during the summer as she would have otherwise. 

"It was really expensive … instead of putting more hours into work, we had to divide the time with the clinicals. But we had some [funding] support from the school," she said. 

Donald DesRoches, president of Collège de l'Île, said the pandemic had a "significant impact" on students' work placements.

"It's been a complex time for staff and students to complete these learning opportunities," said DesRoches. 

"I think in the health programs, it's been particularly stressful for students."

Program was 'crunched together' 

DesRoches said that students in the licensed practical nursing program, for example, could have gotten higher-paying jobs during the summer to help pay off their student debt, had graduation been at the usual time. 

"Because of COVID, everything was kind of all crunched together. So they had to complete their work placements while they were studying for their national exam," DesRoches said. 

He said no students dropped out because of the delays, but some who enrolled for this fall decided not to come because of the pandemic. 

Adapting the course 

At Holland College, students in four health-related programs had to reschedule placements. 

Those training to be dental assistants had the biggest delay, since dentists' offices closed in the spring. Those students finished their placements in November instead of June. 

The college also had to adjust the program to teach COVID-19 protocols, said Rachel Batchilder, program manager for health and community studies at Holland College. 

"We had to upskill our students with those changes. So we needed to know the operational requirements of a dental office in order to train students on how to do things appropriately in a COVID stage when they were in the lab as well," said Batchilder. 

Working and studying at the same time 

Leumedjie now has her certification as a resident care worker and is working at Andrews Care Home in Charlottetown. 

And she started a new program at Collège de l'Île, now studying to become an administration assistant. 

Leumedjie said the experience of having her placement delayed in the spring taught her to go with the flow. 

"I learned that no matter the situation, we can always get used to it, and go with it," said Leumedjie. 

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