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Meet Our Instructors

Raquel Alvela

HCA: CLINICAL INSTRUCTOR

Raquel achieved her Bachelors of Science in Physical Therapy in the Philippines before immigrating to Canada. She began her career here as a live-in caregiver and didn’t waste any time re-establishing herself within BC’s Healthcare system. Graduating as class valedictorian from Drake Medox College’s HCA program, and then from her LPN program with a Distinction Award, she is clearly a very focused and driven professional!

Raquel believes her purpose in life is to care for the most vulnerable members of our society including elders. Through her role as a Clinical Instructor for the HCA program, she is able to inspire and train her students to adopt the skills and confidence they will need to provide holistic, client-centred care. Her goal is to impart an appreciation for the important work they will do, and the importance of accountability and teamwork.

She invites anyone who is interested to take the HCA program not to delay, for as she says “it is never too late to pursue your dreams.” It takes a lot of courage and determination, but as evidenced by Raquel’s own personal journey, it is worth all the sacrifices in the end!

Success Story

Program: ESL / HCA Drake Medox College helped me to achieve my main goal – to become a Healthcare Assistant. They helped me also to become more confident in aspects of speaking and understanding. The ESL-HCA Program at Drake Medox College is the best study program I’ve been to. My Instructors were very supportive. My first impression of the ESL Program was “same old basic English again,” but I was wrong. I thought I didn’t need it because I can speak English. The ESL classes helped me to know how to pronounce properly, use proper grammar and even to create a formal paragraph. The important thing that the ESL Program did for me is to boost my confidence and to mold me into “a chocolate diamond” as Ate Myrine always says. The ESL-HCA Program is worth it and I enjoyed every class I attended. In several months I developed as an open-minded person, a knowledgeable student, a passionate Healthcare practitioner and a fluent user of the English language. As I move toward my new career, the ESL Program contributed a big part to my future work because I have learned how to be a good listener, a good reader and a good communicator. Indeed, I have become “ a diamond.” I am very thankful to Drake Medox College and my supportive Instructors for helping me along the way!

~ Jeanne Parilla ESL - HCA