03/15/2020
Thank you Okanagan Valley College of Massage Therapy for this great write up on my career!
Dissecting a Career - Katie Fairles
You could say that Katie Fairles found her calling while dissecting a cadaver. It happened while she was completing her undergraduate degree, with a focus on Human Kinetics, at the University of Guelph. Katie had the opportunity to study human anatomy extensively in the school’s cadaver lab. Throughout the lab dissections that followed, she realized that massage therapy would allow her to combine her fascination with anatomy along with her passion for health and wellbeing.
"I believe that the body's innate capacity to heal is fascinating, and is ultimately quite humbling from a clinical standpoint," says Katie, whose interest in anatomy eventually led her to become an RMT and a teacher at the OVCMT.
However, her other interests —hiking and the outdoors— first took her across the Pacific.
“After university, I was fortunate enough to spend a year living and working in New Zealand. When my time there came to a close, I knew I wanted to move back to Canada but somewhere that allowed me to continue living the outdoorsy lifestyle I had learned to love while in New Zealand. Vernon filled that niche for me,” she recalls.
After completing her RMT studies at the OVCMT, Katie entered the teaching realm after seeing a post for a summer course that the college used to run.
“I loved it, and so I continued applying for further postings as they came up,” she says.
Employed by the college for the past three years, Katie currently teaches musculoskeletal anatomy to first-year students and pathology to second-year students. She also works at a women's health clinic outside of the college, which focuses on post-natal care for both moms and babies.
“I am quite interested in obstetrics and the role that massage therapy can play in the field,” she explains.
Known for running an organized and fast-paced classroom, Katie appreciates the small class size at OVCMT, allowing her to connect with her students on a more personal level.
"I enjoy that teaching allows me to see clinical connections that I might not otherwise have the opportunity to make. Frequently, while teaching from an anatomy slide during a lecture, I will recognize a clinical relationship and see how I can use that to benefit my students and my patients. I find sharing these clinically significant anatomical relationships with my students to be the most exciting part of teaching.
“I hope that my students learn the importance of feeling inspired to continue to learn and grow in their practice, even beyond graduation.”
