“Lauren’s passion for the program is evident in every interaction. She encourages us to develop as future healthcare professionals, and as individuals navigating personal and academic challenges. Returning to post-secondary was an intimidating decision for me due to ongoing health struggles. Lauren transformed that experience for me. Through her supportive approach, including additional practice, hands-on learning and accessible office hours, she created an environment where I felt confident enough to build competencies. Lauren has a remarkable ability to break down complex concepts and skills into understandable steps, reinforcing learning through practice, with direct observation and constructive guidance. Lauren is a huge part of why I want to continue learning. I confidently recommend this program largely because of Lauren’s exceptional, mentorship and commitment to student success.”
Lauren started at Camosun as an instructional assistant in the Certified Medical Lab Assistant (CMLA) program in 2023. Shortly after, she began to teach in the program, and in 2026 received a Teacher Recognition Award. “I worked at LifeLabs for about nine years when I heard that Camosun hires term contract employees for the CMLA program. I applied for the Instructional Assistant position, and started working for the college in Winter of 2023. Now I teach many of the CMLA courses including first and second term phlebotomy courses (where students learn how to perform blood collections), as well as professional communication, interprofessional practices, and patient management.”
The CMLA program is ten months long, with two academic terms and a seven-week clinical placement term. “We have a diverse student group in the program including international students, students right out of high school, students who have completed some post secondary education, and students changing careers.” I asked Lauren what she enjoys about teaching these diverse cohorts. “It’s hard to put my finger on it exactly, but I really enjoy going in to teach. Even if I’m having a tough time in my own personal life, I find that shifting the focus away from myself and onto the students is helpful for me. I also like interacting with students, getting to know them, and watching their skills develop. I value the amount of effort they put in to improve their skills. I also work at Island Health, so I also get to see my students on the other side after they enter the workforce, too.”
I asked if Lauren could give me a glimpse into her classes. “Dynamics vary a bit from cohort to cohort, and from class to class. I’m impressed as I watch students coming together and lifting each other up, which is when we start to see some of the professional characteristics I want to see in my future colleagues once they enter the workforce. We do a lot of student-to-student phlebotomies while they’re learning and some students are a bit anxious at lending an arm to their classmate, or nervous about hurting a fellow student. But in almost every case, by the first term students are helping their classmates out and providing good feedback to each other. Some of the students are also good at boosting engagement in their peers, organizing little student get-togethers or study groups, which is fun to see.” By the second term, students “have a good level of proficiency with a regular straight needle blood collection, so they can move on to alternative collection methods like using syringes and butterfly needles as well a conducing more complex tests like blood cultures.”
Lauren says her average class “starts out with a brief overview of the class that day, making sure everybody has completed the required readings to prepare for the labs. I’ll also give them an overview of key concepts they need before we get started. When introducing a brand new skill, we bring out our task trainers, which are the rubber arms on which they practice all the safety procedures they need to for a particular piece of equipment. Once they’re feeling comfortable, we’ll put them into pairs and under direct observation of either myself or the instructional assistant we’ll help guide them through that first real phlebotomy collection with that piece of equipment. We then rotate through partners for the remainder of class.”
I wondered if Lauren had some memories to share from her few years of teaching. “I like to see students with the drive to improve themselves because it’s so rewarding to see their skills develop, and recognizing those students who you can see will be a great addition to a healthcare team. I have also had a few students who came in with some worries about performing phlebotomy, often very empathetic individuals who were concerned about causing harm to their fellow students or to patients out in practice. But, with a lot of effort and self work, these students developed their skills. I hope they felt as confident in their themselves by the end of the course as I did. I’m hoping to see those students out in the workforce to see how everything came together for them.”
Lauren encourages students to be patient with themselves. “I tell them that for us, as healthcare professionals, all we can do is put in the effort to develop our skills as best as we can, to maintain our skills through additional education, and take advantage of all the resources we have available to us to make sure we’re doing our job to the highest possible standard. Not every patient will have a perfect experience, but we do what we can to make patient interactions as good as possible. As phlebotomy lab assistants, the patient interactions we have and the relationships we develop with patients are so meaningful, and they appreciate it when they see us trying to make the experience better for them, especially within a complicated and sometimes stressful healthcare system.” And in addition, Lauren reminds students that “despite our best efforts, we are not perfect and we will make mistakes. In the program, we learn to identify mistakes when they happen, how to take responsibility if you do make a mistake, and to learn how to fail with grace. The best place for students to make mistakes is in this safe learning environment, where we’re there to help correct them.”
Finally, I asked Lauren what advice she might have for a brand new faculty member coming to teach at Camosun. “Don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues for help or to seek out the resources available to you, whether that’s our union, your program lead, or your colleagues. And keep those lines of communication open. I probably worked a bit too hard when I started until conversations with my coworkers clarified what was expected of me. I work with a great team in CMLA who helped me so much when I first started, and we all still help each other every day. Finally, as a Camosun employee I love the access we have to additional education courses. I was hesitant to dive into the CETL courses, but every time I’ve gone to them, I’ve come out invigorated to get back in the classroom. I completed the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) in 2024, and I just completed the Team Based Learning (TBL) Institute and loved it. I’m also in the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program (PIDP) through Vancouver Community College. Access to these opportunities is another benefit of being at Camosun for new faculty, so it’s important to remember all the resources that are available to us.”