May 29, 2025
Richelle Monaghan’s impact on her students at Wilfrid Laurier University goes far beyond textbooks and exams. Through innovative teaching methods, a commitment to mentorship and genuine enthusiasm, she inspires a passion for healthcare, STEM and lifelong learning, preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals for the challenges ahead.
“Learning is a transformation,” says Monaghan. “If a student feels they have the same perspective at the end of a course as they did at the beginning, then what’s the point of the course? A transformation in learning should be tangible – it’s about having a new lens through which students view the world.”
Named a 2024 3M National Teaching Fellow, one of Canada’s most prestigious honours in post-secondary education, Monaghan’s contributions to science and health education have made an indelible impact. The 3M award recognizes her exceptional teaching and leadership at the university level, underscoring her influence on students in their academic journey.
While currently serving as vice-dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Science, Monaghan also teaches “The Anatomist’s Palette: From Da Vinci to Digital Imaging,” a fourth-year undergraduate course that encourages students to engage with human anatomy through diverse perspectives, including historical, artistic and technological. The course is designed to foster a professional-level learning ethic, emphasizing self-directed inquiry, accountability and lifelong learning practices – all key qualities for careers in healthcare.
“When I think about Dr. Monaghan’s role in shaping my future the first thing that comes to mind is her openness and approachability,” says John Fathalla, a fourth-year student in Monaghan’s class who hopes to attend medical school. “What I think her impact is going be when I look back is remembering how accessible she made herself and how she was always happy to talk with students. I want to mirror her approach, because I see Dr. Monaghan as a role model and I want to give others the opportunities she gave me.”
Richelle Monaghan works with anatomy students after class on Laurier’s Waterloo campus.
Monaghan’s unconventional teaching methods are integral to her students’ success. She uses music, dance and technology to break down complex scientific concepts, including her “Cranial Nerve Chicken Dance,” a fun and quirky routine performed to polka music that helps anatomy students remember the 12 cranial nerves. She also incorporates Snapchat for learning facial muscles and uses colouring and other strategies to help students go beyond memorizing content. Her ability to present course material in digestible, bite-sized pieces helps students grasp difficult scientific concepts with confidence and enthusiasm.
“Anatomy can be overwhelming for students,” says Monaghan. “There’s a large volume of information and it’s a type of learning many students are encountering for the first time. I try to make it fun and accessible because if you’re not having fun, what’s the point?”
Monaghan’s former student Joy Khalil (BSc ’24), now in the first year of a four-year Doctor of Medicine (MD) program at the University of Ottawa, says that approach made all the difference.
“I would say Dr. Monaghan really taught me how to learn, and ways to understand and develop my learning style,” says Khalil. “I continue to apply the approaches that Dr. Monaghan shared in class. She encouraged me to use playfulness when I approach learning. Instead of approaching it with stress or anxiety, she made it more fun.”
Beyond knowledge and skills, Monaghan strives to cultivate resilience in her students. Drawing from her own life experiences, she emphasizes perseverance and a positive mindset in the face of challenges, noting the key to fostering success is creating an environment where students feel safe, welcome, supported and free to make mistakes.
“Failure is simply the next step in the journey,” says Monaghan. “Learning from mistakes, being persistent and maintaining hope – these are crucial lessons I want to impart to my students. I am convinced that the optimal learning environment is one where students feel a sense of belonging. Science is for everyone, and I want students to know that.”
Monaghan is committed to making science accessible to students from all walks of life, including those from unconventional backgrounds or those facing unique challenges. She is especially dedicated to helping students who may need additional support to succeed in STEM.
For her exceptional teaching practices, Monaghan was named a Laurier Teaching Fellow in 2022, presented the Sam Drogo Technology in the Classroom Award in 2020, and named winner of the Laurier Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence and Gail Jenkins Teaching and Mentorship Award in 2017.
“Learning from mistakes, being persistent and maintaining hope — these are crucial lessons I want to impart to my students.”
– Richelle Monaghan
The impact of Monaghan’s teaching is evident in the careers of her students. Graduates of Laurier’s Health Sciences and Health Studies programs consistently pursue further education and enter health-related fields, with many attributing their success to Monaghan’s teaching and mentorship.
Monaghan’s former student Kate MacKenzie (BASc ’20) currently serves as an audiologist with a not-for-profit organization in Ottawa. MacKenzie works with families, adults, children and seniors, offering strategies and techniques to lessen the impact of hearing loss, as well as conducting hearing tests, hearing loss diagnosis and prescribing hearing solutions.
“I have my dream job right now,” says MacKenzie. “If anything, Richelle’s leadership and her influence on me simply snowballed to where I am. It’s led me to people and led me to chances that I wouldn’t have otherwise had. I’m very fortunate to know her.”
Monaghan’s former student Clare Fletcher (BASc ’16) currently works as a clinical nurse educator and behavioural consultant for Island Health, the Vancouver Island Health Authority. Upon graduating from Laurier’s Brantford campus in 2016, Fletcher attended the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at McMaster University. Today, she serves individuals in complex care who are also facing mental health and substance use challenges. She provides consultation to care teams wanting to address challenging behavioural presentations in a wholistic, trauma informed way.
“Richelle is one of the most, if not the most, impactful people in my life,” says Fletcher. “In the classroom and beyond, Richelle has instilled in me a willingness to push boundaries and approach challenges in ways considered to be ‘outside the box.’ Her teaching style and contagious passion for learning, as well as her ability to make the densest of subject matter accessible, is very much something that I strive to model in my own work today. Anybody who has the opportunity to learn from Richelle is very lucky, indeed.”
Monaghan’s personal journey of overcoming loss has shaped her teaching philosophy. On Thanksgiving weekend 2003, her life would change forever after rushing her four-year-old daughter, Hope, to hospital.
“My daughter came down the stairs with a big smile on her face, but in her big smile I saw this tiny asymmetry in her facial expression, which is cranial nerves,” says Monaghan. “I could quickly assess her eye movement and get her to stick her tongue out and see that it wasn’t just a facial nerve, which meant it was coming from the brain stem. I said to my husband, ‘We need to go to the hospital now.’”
Monaghan and her husband were told Hope had an inoperable brain tumour. She was given three months to live and passed away peacefully exactly a year later, on Thanksgiving.
“Losing Hope gave me the deepest appreciation for the inextricability of tough and tender, for the gift of giving every person dignity and for alleviating the pain of those carrying burdens, which has been profound in every aspect of my life,” says Monaghan.
While she had been running a massage therapy practice specializing in pain management, the loss of Hope led Monaghan back to school. She earned a PhD in Biology at the University of Waterloo in 2011 before joining Laurier’s Department of Health Studies as an instructor in 2012. While teaching at Laurier, Monaghan completed a second doctorate in Educational Leadership at Western University, graduating in 2021, the same year she became vice-dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Science. She previously earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Laurier in 1999.
“Laurier is a place where students are empowered to succeed in STEM, regardless of their backgrounds or challenges. We have an incredible array of programs – Health Sciences, Biology, Chemistry – and all of them provide pathways into healthcare fields.”
– Richelle Monaghan
Monaghan’s dedication to supporting student success in STEM is more crucial than ever, with millions of Ontario residents lacking a family doctor and thousands of specialists needed in the healthcare sector. Monaghan and her colleagues in the Faculty of Science are equipping undergraduate and graduate students with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in medical school, nursing, research programs and allied health professions.
“Laurier is a place where students are empowered to succeed in STEM, regardless of their backgrounds or challenges,” says Monaghan. “We have an incredible array of programs – Health Sciences, Biology, Chemistry – and all of them provide pathways into healthcare fields.”
Close to 100 per cent of employed Laurier Health Sciences graduates are working in Ontario, with more than two-thirds working in health-related fields. Among 2023 Health Sciences graduates, 70 per cent pursued further education, with just under half advancing into professional health programs including medicine, nursing and rehabilitation sciences.
Thanks to Laurier’s Faculty of Science programming and the innovative teaching and influence of dedicated instructors like Monaghan, Laurier students will be well-equipped to navigate the complexities of an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.
“Understanding that I have an impact on students’ lives is a huge responsibility and makes me emotional,” says Monaghan. “Knowing that I’ve contributed to their journey and helped shape their futures is what makes my work meaningful.”
“Dr. Monaghan has definitely helped me figure out what I want to do and what I don’t want to do. Every experience that I've had with her has been positive. Her being so enthusiastic and so interested in the subject matter makes other people more passionate.”
– Erin Ernst, fourth-year Health Sciences
“Something Dr. Monaghan has given me is the ability to really go out and seek the things I want to learn. She’s really pushed me toward the idea of lifelong learning.”
– Julia Koifman, fourth-year Health Sciences
“Dr. Monaghan’s passion for making students’ journey as accessible as possible provides a pathway for students to grow no matter what their circumstance.”
– Sashen Costa, fourth-year Health Sciences
