UBC School of Social Work | Okanagan Campus

We are honoured to bring you our first UBCO MSW Summer Term practicum student feature for 2026. Summer field placements are underway, with our first year, second year, and advanced students completing field placements across the country. We are excited to follow along on their journey, and look forward to highlighting the excellent work they are doing throughout the summer.
“Hello, my name is Mya Galbraith (she/her), and I am a proud member of the Fort McMurray 468 First Nation. I am also an MSW foundational student currently completing my first practicum on the unceded Syilx territories at the Rutland Community Clinic (RCC) and the Reclaiming Our Ancestral Roots (ROAR) Society. At RCC, I support Indigenous patients with health navigation tasks. Through ROAR, I assist with outreach, peer navigation and provide culturally grounded community support at both the Rutland and Downtown Libraries. ROAR is a wraparound wellness organization that offers a variety of support within one welcoming space. What I enjoy most about working with ROAR is that it is a non-profit, Indigenous-led organization rooted in relationship-building, cultural safety, and community connection. Through this experience, I feel that I am reconnecting with my ancestral roots while supporting community members by connecting them with resources in a holistic and culturally grounded way. Working in health navigation has also allowed me to learn more about the resources and supports available throughout Kelowna. I especially enjoy working at RCC, where patients can access women’s health care, nursing services, physicians, exercise therapy, counselling, and peer navigation all under one roof. I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn from both of these organizations, and I look forward to continuing to grow throughout the remainder of my practicum. ROAR also hosts healing circles at the Rutland Library every Monday from 1:00–2:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend, so please come by and say hi!”

CREATE Youth Mental Health Lab and CSSCF invite you to join their Visiting Scholar Symposium to hear up and coming research from visiting international scholars Caroline and Laura. Link to register is in .ymh.lab bio

Congratulations to Olivia Stevenson, who was selected as the recipient of the John H. V. Gilbert Interprofessional Scholarship for 2025 for her academic excellence and student leadership in interprofessional education for collaborative patient-centered practice. Olivia is a second-year student in the UBCO MSW program. As a graduate research assistant, Olivia contributes to interprofessional education through leadership, research, and community engagement. She collaborates with faculty and students across health science programs to advance holistic, patient-centered care and works with educators and healthcare providers to promote physical literacy and lifelong health.

The UBCO School of Social Work would like to congratulate Christina Musallam (she/her) on her recent scholarship. Christina shared with us about the scholarship and her upcoming research:
“I am incredibly grateful to have received a Canada Graduate Research Scholarship to support me while I continue my Master of Clinical Social Work and start my thesis this fall. My proposed research topic will focus on individuals who are voluntarily childless due to perceived genetic risks of addiction, intergenerational trauma, reproductive responsibility, and personal narratives of breaking the cycle of abuse. This topic is both personally meaningful and increasingly relevant, yet there is limited research surrounding it. I have met many individuals who carry the weight of intergenerational trauma and want to break the cycle. These conversations have stayed with me. Discussions with my research supervisor pushed me to ask how reproductive choices are shaped not only by personal history, but also by broader systems that often leave people without adequate psychological, medical, or social support. No matter what the research question evolves into, I am always committed to helping people who need it. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, Maria, who has not only endured but also uplifted me throughout this whole process.”

IDeborah Edoho is a first-year Master of Social Work (MSW) student at UBC Okanagan who is passionate about equity, community, and supporting BIPOC students in navigating academic spaces.
As a racialized student who has spent several years in academia, Deborah has had experiences that shaped her academic path, including shifting her original plan from pursuing a Master’s in Psychology to Social Work. Through connecting with BIPOC peers, staff, and faculty, she realized that many others had gone through similar experiences—often without initially recognizing or naming them.

With the support of her community, Deborah organized Ask & Learn: A Q&A for BIPOC Students with BIPOC Staff, taking place on March 26th from 5:00–7:00 PM at the UNC Theatre (UNC 106). The event aims to create a space for BIPOC students to ask questions, share experiences, and have open conversations about graduate studies and navigating higher education.
She hopes the panel helps students feel more informed, supported, and less alone as they consider their next steps. The event is free, and food and drinks will be provided.

Bonus feature for B.C. Social Work Week!
“My name is Chitleen (she/her) and I’m in the Advanced Track MSW program at UBCO. I’m currently completing my practicum at Third Space where I provide individual counselling to young adults between the ages of 18 and 29. In this role, I support clients who are navigating a range of challenges, including anxiety, relationship difficulties, stress, and life transitions. This experience has given me the opportunity to develop my counselling skills while working directly with clients in a supportive and collaborative environment.
One aspect of this practicum that I value greatly is the opportunity to explore different therapeutic modalities and approaches. I have also been able to engage with research around culturally responsive and culturally adapted interventions, which has helped me think more critically about how to provide counselling that is respectful, inclusive, and responsive to clients’ diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.
It is truly a privilege and an honour to be in a position where individuals trust me with their stories and experiences. A core value that guides my work is the belief that clients are the experts in their own lives. My goal is to approach each session with curiosity, humility, and openness, while learning from the clients I work with and supporting them as they explore their experiences and move toward their goals.”

Introducing Jenn, our final student for B.C. Social Work Week:
“My name is Jenn (she/her) and I’m a foundational MSW student here at UBCO. I’m currently in my first practicum placement at the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office on campus! Before entering the MSW program, I taught comprehensive sexual health education in schools, community centres, and seniors homes across the province. When I heard SVPRO was an option for my first practicum, it felt like an obvious first choice! Since January, I’ve had the opportunity to support the director and the education team with workshop materials and join in on campus meetings with UBC Vancouver to learn the inner-workings of future prevention programming on both campuses. SVPRO is a unique practicum placement in that you are exposed to policy implementation, abuse prevention education, and client-facing social work at an institutional level. When I graduate from the program, I am looking to build a sustainable career in community-based sexual health education and reproductive rights activism!”

Up next for our Social Work Week student features is Zainab:
“Hi, I’m Zainab McIntosh, a first-year MSW student completing my practicum placement with the Upstream program through BGCO. Upstream is a prevention-based, voluntary program that offers short-term support to youth, with the goal of building skills, empowerment, and resilience to reduce the risk of school disengagement and youth homelessness. Upstream Kelowna supports youth in building community connections and navigating systems through partnerships with local organizations. The program is delivered in collaboration with The Bridge Youth & Family Services, CMHA - Foundry, and Arc Programs, alongside national partners including A Way Home Canada and the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness.
In my role, I have had the opportunity to support the intake processes as well as participate in case management. Through case management, I have worked with youth seeking social-emotional support, assistance connecting to community resources, and referrals to mental health supports.
My main goals were to gain a better understanding of the community resources available for youth in Kelowna and to further develop my therapeutic engagement skills. Throughout this placement, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with youth, their families, school-based teams, and community partners to support youth in connecting with additional resources, strengthening their social and emotional well-being, and remaining engaged in school.
As I continue my social work journey, I hope to keep working with youth and supporting their well-being. I am grateful for the experiences and connections I have gained through this placement.”

Next up for our B.C. Social Work Week student features is first year UBCO MSW student Coralie (she/her).
“Completing my first-year practicum at NOW Canada has been an incredible learning opportunity and an important step in developing my social work identity. I am currently working in NOW Canada’s Essentials Program: an abstinence-based recovery program for women that is centred on teaching a wide-range of life skills, including: healthy relationships, boundaries, relapse prevention, and much more! Through this practicum, I have had the opportunity to develop my case management skills, conduct client support meetings, process referrals, complete intake interviews, as well as design and facilitate psychoeducational classes. I am grateful to my supervisor and colleagues at NOW Canada for fostering a supportive learning environment, striving to meet my goals with enthusiasm, and providing me with a space to engage in transparent supervision dialogue. It has been a great privilege to work alongside the women at NOW Canada as they walk the road of recovery and healing.”

Today marks the beginning of Social Work Week in BC. Throughout the week, the UBCO School of Social Work will be highlighting a few of our students who are doing outstanding work in their practicum placements over the winter term. First up is first year MSW student Kyle (he/him)
Kyle is doing his field placement at the Central Okanagan Hospice Association (COHA), a local hospice palliative care organization that offers compassionate care, comfort, support and learning to ensure that nobody in the Central Okanagan has to pass away or grieve alone. COHA offers a diverse range of low-barrier palliative care and grief and bereavement resources to clients from Lake Country to Peachland, including grief counselling, support groups, Reiki and yoga wellness programs, and summer camps for grieving children. Kyle is supporting COHA’s services by co-facilitating support groups for bereaved parents and children, developing EDI initiatives that engage COHA’s volunteers, and improving the accessibility of community visiting programs for people nearing end of life and their families.
Kyle has greatly enjoyed the opportunity to support COHA’s uniquely diverse, accessible, and person-centered range of resources, both directly through clinical work and indirectly through program development. His practicum with COHA has deepened his appreciation of what it means to care for people as a professional social worker, but more importantly, as a human being. It has been his privilege to be welcomed by COHA’s clients to walk alongside them in their unique and deeply personal journeys of grief and end of life.