Associate Professor
phone: 604–822–8573
laura.nimmon@ubc.ca
Profile
There is a focus on independent self and autonomy in our health profession training programs. Yet social networks are a cornerstone of effective clinical practice and teamwork. We are enmeshed these webs of interconnectivity that the extent of their influence is almost invisible to us and thus underappreciated in health professions training programs. My research explores the implicit and explicit drive towards the goal of autonomy and independence in health professions education. This body of research widens the scope of our collective vision beyond learners and healthcare providers as independent with distinct expertise. Viewing them instead as individuals deeply embedded in social structures who can notice and adapt fluidly to their interdependence.
My other area of research has been centered on power and the ways it flows through interprofessional teams and manifests in the clinical encounter. This research both affirms and challenges assumptions of hierarchical power and reveals the multifaceted fine-tuned ways power operates in unexpected and diverse ways in health professions educational and practice environments. This work has been published in leading journals (Science, AAAS) and mentioned in major news outlets around the world, including the Los Angeles Times, the Times of India, San Jose Mercury News, and the Boston Herald.
My most meaningful professional achievement is being recognized for my dedication to mentorship. I am a recipient of the UBC Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Mentoring Early Career Faculty. I am also the recipient of the Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) Champion Award for advocacy, role modeling and mentorship of early career researchers.
Outside of work, I treasure time with my family and enjoy music, yoga, literature, fishing, and walking my dog Smiles at the beach.
Research
I bring an interdisciplinary perspective to the field of health professional education research that is shaped by my training in medicine, social network analysis, anthropology, and sociolinguistics. My approach emphasizes how social interactions, power relations, cognition, language, and identity are always co-produced and bound to context.
I supervise and collaborate with graduate students, faculty, and educational leaders on research topics that are important to them. On this collaborative work, I have brought diverse social theories (community of practice theory, cultural historical activity theory, social network theory, etc.) to “see” social phenomenon anew with an effort to enlarge scholarly approaches to learning and practice. This research has spanned topics such as psychological safety; disability and belonging; learners mistreated by patients; residents’ hidden decision-making networks, and a pedagogy of love.
I am an award-winning researcher and my work is funded by tri-council national funding agencies, hospital foundations, and professional regulatory bodies.
Teaching
I currently teach graduate level sessions on qualitative research as a method of inquiry in RHSC 500 and in CHES/MHPE Campus 2.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities
I welcome new MSc and PhD students, please get in touch if you have similar research interests.
Affiliations
- Scientist, Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES), Faculty of Medicine, UBC
- Associate Editor, Perspectives on Medical Education (Netherlands)
- Invited member, Sigma Xi, Scientific Research Honor Society (USA)
Select Publications
*link to articles provided when possible*
Please see my publications via my Google Scholar page.