Rhonda Pouliot
Rhonda is the current Director of the Medical Laboratory Science program at the 海角社区.
Rhonda began her career in healthcare in 1991 when she completed the Emergency Medical Responder program at NAIT. Finding work in the field was challenging, so after working for several years in a variety of jobs such as CPR/First Aid instructor, hairdressing, bookkeeping, bartending, waitressing, and perogy making, she decided to go to the 海角社区 and graduated from the MLS program in the spring of 2003.
Her first MLT job was in Anatomical Pathology at the 海角社区 Hospital, mainly in Immunohistochemistry. From there, Rhonda accepted a position as a clinical coordinator with Alberta Health Services Laboratory Services (now called APL) where she was tasked with consolidating student laboratory clinical training at the Edmonton General Hospital and teaching Anatomical Pathology to the students in their clinical year.
Rhonda left the lab and became the simulation consultant for Alberta Health Services for all of North Zone Alberta. This role took her traveling through the North Zone of the province with a mannequin in the back of her Ford Flex and popping into various hospitals and other healthcare facilities to perform training with the staff.
After a few years, Rhonda joined the folks at the Health Quality Council of Alberta as the educator. During her time there, she honed her love for patient experience and came to recognize the crucial role patient experience plays in patient outcomes.
In 2023, when the position of the director of the MLS arose, she couldn't resist being drawn back into the lab and could see the potential of sharing a person-centered approach with the students.
On a personal note, Rhonda is a grandma of two amazing kids and is the full-time caregiver and legal guardian to one of them. Interestingly, the two of them were born 3 days apart, so sometimes they seem more like siblings than cousins. Rhonda spends any free time she has hanging out with her grandkids, working out, and spending time with friends.