I’m a Research Associate in the Research Unit at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. It’s a unique space, which affords opportunities to make strong links between educational research, policy, and practice. My research program explores moments when sociocultural influences commonly cause health professionals, learners, or educators to struggle to apply their knowledge in practice. In other words, I spend my time thinking about how and why individuals might fail to do what they think they should.

I recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES), University of British Columbia, where I was lucky to work with top researchers in health professions education scholarship to develop my current program of research. My PhD research in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta focused on the multiple ways in which educators in the health professions understand the term critical thinking, and how those conceptions are informed by their unique personal and professional experiences. 

My interest in health professions education stems from my previous experience in faculty development, curriculum design, and program evaluation for interprofessional and simulation-based education. I am also involved in community service learning (CSL), exploring how students can learn by navigating complex and authentic problems in community settings. I have been involved in research in this area, and also use CSL in my teaching practice. See my teaching portfolio for more details on teaching and curriculum design.