° ) INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / FEBRUARY 27, 1990

 

 

Therapeutic Recreation grads
“powerful lobbying force” __

/

 

Dz College’s Therapeutic
Recreation instructor Dan Mc-

Donald is looking forward to his
department's first batch of diploma
graduates.

McDonald hopes his new
graduates of this two-year program
will fill the demands for trained
professionals in the recreation field.

“Beforehand our one-year pro-
gram put students at a disad-
vantage in getting jobs because
they were in direct competition
with diploma graduates,” he says.
“The two-year program remedies
that. Fifty-four students are com-
pleting the program as we speak.”

McDonald, a five-year veteran
at Douglas College, spent five years
as recreation consultant in
Manitoba. Asa graduate of the
University of Minnesota, he’s well
aware that students wishing to
make a career out of therapeutic
recreation face quite a challenge.

B.C. is about 20 years behind
the U.S. in terms of training, Mc-
Donald says. “Historically we’ ve al-
ways had trouble getting
up-to-date, thorough training. For
Canadians, you either go to
Douglas College, Mount Royal in
Calgary, or the States. That’s how
confined the field of choice is.”

Even Douglas College
graduates — whom McDonald con-
siders the best-trained in the
country — are faced with complet-
ing programs at either the Univer-
sity of Alberta or a U.S. institution
if they wish to pursue graduate
work and receive top-end jobs. This
is precisely what led the Ontario-
born McDonald to enroll in the
University of Minnesota after leav-
ing his government posting in
Manitoba.

McDonald is a teacher who
thoroughly enjoys his work with

Dougias College students — work
that’s a complete reversal from his
administrative, policy-oriented
government days. He feels it’s in
his students’ power, with en-
couragement from the College, to
create a stronger liaison with local
universities and thus increase the
development of recreation training
in Canada.

“Our graduates are becoming a
powerfuly lobbying force promot-
ing this cause, and because Douglas
College is the major training facility
in B.C. we're helping their efforts,”
he says.

Until the goal is reached, Mc-
Donald is more than satisfied
“watching students fit into the field
and contribute something to
society.” They display the same in-
terest in recreation and the desire to
help others, he says, and that
makes his own life fulfilling, m