Diploma in Business Administration

at Red Deer Polytechnic Canada

This program is accredited by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP). It prepares the graduate to become a Registered Pharmacy Technician (RPhT) following graduation and successful completion of the Pharmacy Examining Board of Canada (PEBC) certification process and the Alberta College of Pharmacists (ACP) registration process. Details regarding registering as a Pharmacy Technician in the province of Alberta can be found by accessing the Alberta College of Pharmacists website (www.pharmacists.ab.ca).

RDC has been educating Pharmacy Technicians since 1976 and graduates are highly sought after by employers. This diploma program is delivered over five academic terms.

Program outcomes are designed to enable successful transition to the role of the Pharmacy Technician, assisting students to:

• Communicate effectively and respectfully to build positive relationships through verbal, nonverbal, written and technological means with patients, co-workers and other health care providers.
• Practice in a legal, ethical and professional manner demonstrating conduct that meets expectations of members of society and the profession.
• Accurately manage and perform technical and distributive tasks expected of a pharmacy technician.
• Build collaborative relationships within the pharmacy and health care teams to optimize patient safety and meet patient health care needs and improve health outcomes.
• Perform job related tasks in a safe and effective manner that ensures quality and patient safety while using professional judgment as to which tasks can be performed independently or in collaboration with a pharmacist.
• Maintain, enhance and share knowledge, skills and attitude through self-reflective practice, use of available learning resources, networking and self-directed learning to continue to be a lifelong learner.

If you are fascinated by the words and images that we see every day in traditional mass media and social media, and you’re looking for an opportunity to work in a fast-paced career that requires maturity and excellent writing skills, consider the Media Studies and Professional Communication diploma at RDC.
 
In this program, you’ll study how mass media such as television, advertising and even video games influence, and are influenced by, society; you’ll also gain valuable knowledge to help you succeed in a variety of careers that require superior strategic communication skills. The combination of media studies and professional communication will allow you to adapt to an ever-changing job market by giving you strong critical thinking skills, and the tools to create effective messaging for your employer.

Completing the diploma program will open doors to employment in corporate, government, and not-for-profit organizations; graduates can also transfer to several universities to complete a Bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies or another discipline.

Our program offers

• Small class sizes with dynamic learning activities
• A blend of theoretical knowledge and practical skills
• An interdisciplinary approach that equips you to evolve in your career
• Dedicated instructors who will help you succeed
• A practicum placement that will give you experience in the communications field

Program Outcomes

• Demonstrate the oral and written skills necessary to communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively while adapting to different audiences and purposes.
• Employ current qualitative and quantitative research methods in addressing both complex theoretical questions and concrete professional challenges.
• Explain the history and application of communication theories related to topics such as mass media production, new media literacy, intercultural and interpersonal relations.
• Identify historical and contemporary trends and implications of various forms of mass media and technology.
• Apply critical media theory to oral, written and audiovisual communications in order to appraise sociocultural messaging, power dynamics, and bias.

The Bachelor of Commerce program will provide you with background skills and knowledge in the various specialized areas of business, as well as in the humanities and social sciences. Emphasis is on developing the ability to analyze various organizational problems of a human and/or technical nature.

At RDC, students may complete Year 1 and Year 2 of the undergraduate business degree programs offered at Mount Royal University, the University of Alberta, the University of Lethbridge, Athabasca University or other Canadian universities. At RDC, students may complete Year 1 of the program offered at the University of Calgary.

When the student transfers to the University of his/her choice, a specialized area of study (a major) may be selected. These specializations include:

• Accounting
• Computer Science
• Economics
• E-Commerce
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• First Nations' Governance
• Human Resource Management & Labour Relations
• Finance
• International Business
• Marketing
• Political Science
• Supply Chain Management
• Others as offered by the University you choose      

A combined BEd/BSc program allows you to satisfy the minimum requirements of both degrees in five years. The program provides a broader science background while maintaining the teacher education component. Graduates of the combined degree are eligible to apply for Teacher Certification in the Province of Alberta and all other provinces. Red Deer College offers up to two years of these programs.

Program Content

Teaching science in secondary school requires studying a variety of subjects. For the University of Alberta, you will normally major in one of the following areas and minor in another:

1. Biological Sciences includes Biology, Botany, Entomology, Genetics, Immunology and Infection, Marine Science, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology, Physiology, Zoology.
2. Mathematical Sciences includes Applied Probability, Computing Science, Mathematics, Statistics.
3. Physical Sciences includes Astronomy, Chemistry, Mathematical Physics, Physics.

Transfer to the University of Alberta after one year is required for all of these programs in order to meet the U of A Faculty of Science residency requirement.

All of your visual art instructors are professional practicing artists. We offer state-of-the-art studio spaces, fully equipped for ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, and design. The program offers you a concentrated visual arts foundation in a two year time span.

The first year emphasizes experience in drawing, painting, design, ceramics, sculpture, art history, and English. A broad range of visual experiences will help you form a visual arts vocabulary and master skills in composition and technical areas. The second year of the program emphasizes creative growth, visual maturity in studio work as well as allowing you to experience open options to broaden your education.

The two-year University Arts Diploma offers students the opportunity to learn about the issues and people shaping their world through a holistic approach to knowledge that is interdisciplinary in emphasis and chronologically broad in its topics. Students are able to determine their futures through a focus on general University Arts, which allows students to concentrate on a particular area of interest within the Humanities (English, History/Classics, Philosophy) and Social Sciences (Anthropology, Communications, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology) or through one of three thematic specializations—Global Perspectives; Science and Society; Culture, Societies, and Gender—that centre on timely themes and subjects. With a choice of pathways, resulting in a University Arts Diploma, students are able to concentrate on what matters to them while gaining transferable knowledge and skills that will give them a leg up in an ever-uncertain future. In an age where intricate problems do not respond to traditional solutions, the ability to think beyond disciplinary boundaries, offer critical analysis, craft well-considered assessments, supported by adaptive thinking in pursuit of solutions, will be the foundation for students’ further educational goals or employment aspirations.

Please note: all students apply to the University Arts Diploma. Following Admission, students may, if they choose, declare a specialization in Year 1 or Year 2 prior to graduation. Specializations are noted on transcripts. Students who choose not to specialize, or who do not meet the requirements of a specialization, will graduate with the same University Arts Diploma (without a specialization noted on their transcripts).

Program Outcomes

• Recognize the provisional nature, inherent complexity, and ambiguity of knowledge.
• Acknowledge a variety of critical and theoretical approaches to local and global issues and identify the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches.
• Engage in scholarly inquiry, both independently and collaboratively, to identify and investigate questions of a theoretical and applied nature using appropriate disciplinary methodologies and sources.
• Integrate knowledge and perspectives across disciplinary boundaries.
• Demonstrate intellectual integrity and academic accountability.
• Recognize reasonable objections to positions one endorses and to the arguments one uses to support their own position when presenting oral and written arguments.
• Acknowledge the diverse social, cultural, and historical forces that shape identities and values and examine personal and cultural diversity.
• Analyse and interpret historical and contemporary events, texts, and data within disciplines.
• Demonstrate collaborative, independent, and inclusive attitudes and practices.

The program at RDC is one year of study toward Bachelor of Science Nutrition and Food Sciences.

Students studying Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Alberta can pursue 5 different majors upon transfer. Students starting at RDC will be best set up to transition into either the Nutrition and Food Science General program or the Dietetics Specialization program. If you are pursuing another major in Nutrition, you may experience some added time to finish your degree from the University of Alberta when you transfer. See the Bachelor of Science – Nutrition and Food Sciences Academic Planning Guide for more information

The Accredited Medical Laboratory Assistant program is designed to produce health care professionals who have the basic technical and theoretical skills to work in heathcare laboratories.  Their duties consist mainly of sample collection, specimen processing and various clinical laboratory procedures.  Graduates will attain all the specified MLA competencies that are outlined by the Canadian Society of Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS).  They will be eligible to write the CSMLS MLA exam and obtain national certification.

The program is completed over 29 weeks and includes classroom and laboratory study on campus and a 7 week practicum off campus for clinical laboratory training.  Students are trained to collect, process, and prepare patient specimens, enter data, perform clerical and reception services, perform electrocardiograms and urinalysis, and carry out basic laboratory procedures. During practicum experience, students will address a selection of competencies in simulation labs.

Program outcomes are designed to enable successful transition to the role of the Medical Lab Assistant, assisting students to:

• Perform safe work practices according to established safety protocols, guidelines, and legislation
• Verify relevant data and patient information to ensure that appropriate specimens are collected and handled correctly
• Perform pre-analytical procedures and laboratory testing on a variety of specimens through the use of equipment according to established protocols
• Apply a variety of communication strategies, teamwork skills, and inter-professional collaboration to effectively and respectfully build positive relationships with patients/clients and other healthcare professionals
• Practice and promote the principles of quality management systems
• Practice in a legal, ethical and professional manner, demonstrating conduct that meets expectations of laws and regulations governing the profession
• Exhibit empathy, respect, and appreciation of diversity, while protecting the patient's right to a reasonable standard of care
• Apply critical thinking skills to constructively investigate, evaluate, and problem-solve to engage in the self-reflective practice, self-care, and lifelong learning

RDC offers courses that range from Shakespeare to Indigenous literature, expository to creative writing, national literatures to popular genres, allowing you to learn practical skills while acquiring cultural knowledge.

This two-year Career Development Diploma prepares internationally educated nurses to integrate their prior education into the Canadian health care environment and take on management or leadership roles. Explore foundational business and management concepts and learn how to apply them to challenges faced by both public and private health care organizations.

Graduates of the program will be perfectly positioned to lead their organization in achieving business and strategic goals. The importance of critical thinking and significance of cultural diversity are both emphasized in this immersive and dynamic program. Graduates will also gain valuable strategies for completing the regulatory examination process for professional certification in Canada.