About Kim Kara, M.Ed.

Educator. Creator. Author. 

Founder of CELBANPrep & CELBANPrep University

Kim Kara, M.Ed. is the founder of CELBANPrep, CELBANPrep University, CELBANPrep Publishing, and the CELBAN Help Centre at CELBAN.info.

Her work began with a practical question:

How can Internationally Educated Health Professionals develop the English-language and communication abilities they need to build meaningful professional lives in Canada?

What began in 2009 as CELBAN preparation has grown into a broader educational learning and becoming landscape encompassing information, self-evaluation, skill development, professional communication, live learning, community, and encouragement.

The CELBAN is part of that story.

It is not the whole story.

Who Is Kim Kara?

Kim Kara, M.Ed., is an educator, creator, author, and founder whose work has focused on Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) and Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHPs).

Since 2009, she has developed learning resources and educational environments for people navigating the intersection of:

• English-language development.

• healthcare communication.

• CELBAN preparation.

• Canadian professional contexts.

• career development.

• self-evaluation.

• professional integration.

• the human experience of rebuilding a professional life in a new country.

Her educational work has therefore developed in response to the people who came to her with questions.

The questions came first.

The resources grew from them.

When Did CELBANPrep Begin?

CELBANPrep began in 2009.

At the time, Kim was working with Internationally Educated Health Professionals and encountered nurses who needed support preparing for the CELBAN but had limited preparation resources available to them.

She brought her background in education to the problem.

Rather than simply telling learners what to study, she began developing learning activities that helped them work on the language abilities underlying the examination.

The earliest work was deliberately practical.

It began with teaching.

Then came resources.

Then books.

Then online learning.

Then a virtual learning environment.

And eventually, a much larger educational landscape.

Work on CELBANPrep materials began in 2009; the development of CELBAN preparation books and e-books began in 2011.

What Began as CELBAN Preparation Became Something Larger

CELBANPrep was originally created around a very specific need:

helping Internationally Educated Nurses prepare for the CELBAN.

But working with learners revealed that exam preparation was rarely the only problem.

People had questions such as:

• What exactly is CELBAN assessing?

• What does my result mean?

• What should I improve?

• Why am I still struggling?

• Is my English the problem?

• Is grammar the problem?

• Do I need more vocabulary?

• Why can I understand English but struggle to communicate?

• What does “professional communication” actually mean?

• How do I know whether a preparation resource is helping me?

• What should I do after I fail?

• How do I keep going when I am exhausted?

• How do I rebuild a professional identity in Canada, after struggling for so long?

The work therefore expanded.

The examination remained important.

But the learner became more important.