Interest in Nursing and Other Health Professions Higher at VIU SHARE ON: Photograph by RB Irwin After more than a year of the COVD-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in applications for nursing or other health care training at Vancouver Island University. VIU Dean of Health and Human Services, Dr. Patricia O’Hagan, says that by late April, there were over 500 applications for Health and Human Services programs this year, compared to less than 360 at the same time in 2020. The interest is higher for nearly all health care programs offered by the university. She says VIU’s Bachelor of Science program in nursing enrolls 72 students and the practical nursing program takes in 56 students.