Program: Combined Lab and X-Ray Technology program

Hometown: La Loche, SK

Understanding medical terminology can be challenging. But it can be doubly so when English isn’t your first language. Just ask Rosanne Lemaigre, whose mother tongue is Déné. She headed to SIAST after high school because her part-time jobs at the La Loche Health Centre (then St. Martin’s Hospital) had piqued her curiosity in becoming a combined laboratory and x-ray technician.

"I didn’t realize until I started the program how much of a problem I would have. Medical terminology is a big part of the course. Every time I did an exam, I couldn’t finish it in time."

She quit the program but returned the next year, all the more determined. It was then she discovered her campus’s Aboriginal Activity Centre and how staff there could help. "They arranged for me to have extra time on my exams. I got tutors through them, and I felt welcomed there."

Lemaigre has since returned to the La Loche Health Centre - this time as a combined lab and x-ray technician. She now works at Keewatin Yatthe Regional Health Authority.

The Combined Lab and X-Ray Technology program is part of the Science and Health program area. Students in these programs can access support from the Science and Health Aboriginal Success Strategy (SHASS). Services include providing culturally sensitive one-on-one counselling, academic support, referrals to learning services and tutorials, help with scholarships and bursaries and information regarding funding, childcare, housing and transportation.

For more information on this program, visit goSIAST.com/healthservices.