Cates Bayabay

I am a registered nurse currently working on contract-basis with the Government of Nunavut (NU) and living in Rankin Inlet since last year. Before then I was a full time nurse with expanded scope in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, NU. As an immigrant from the Philippines, I am humbly reminded of the similarities of relationships and people’s sense of connection amidst the difference in geography and cultures.

I enjoy being outdoors: when I lived in BC, I would have a forest bath during a hike, and now in NU, I would get a dose of tundra therapy when it is not too cold out.

I entered UBC’s Master of Health and Leadership Policy (focus on Clinical Education) as a personal investment for lifelong learning. So far, it has been very fruitful learning a lot about myself in the process, as well as learning my cohort’s stories along the way. Being geographically this remote, I am grateful to be able to connect with people outside my current social network and learn different perspectives of the world. It is also through this program that I learned about participatory action research which piqued my interest (being anything that challenges the status quo) and led me to joining the team. I am very thrilled and very grateful for the opportunity.