​Lauren is the Nurse Educator at Trans Care BC, where she helps develop clinical education and resources for care providers. She is particularly interested in updating clinical resources and guidelines to include considerations for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone therapy. Lauren is responsible for the Sexual Health Screening Guidelines in Trans Care BC's Primary Care Toolkit, which provide screening recommendations that are based on an individual's anatomy and hormone status, instead of gender.

Dr. Marria Townsend is a queer cisgender family physician who has been providing gender affirming care to Two-Spirit, trans and gender diverse youth and adults since 2006. Since 2015 she has been in the role of medical director at Trans Care BC where she supports the development and implementation of key strategies aimed at improving access to gender-affirming care.

Dr. Townsend is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Practice at UBC. She is passionate about supporting closer-to-home care options for those seeking gender affirming health care. She has been a leader in teaching students, residents and colleagues around ways to improve care to trans communities.

Physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, registered clinical counsellors, and registered health care professionals are invited to join Lauren Goldman and Dr. Marria Townsend on the October 14th Mentorship Call. This Zoom meeting will provide an opportunity for sharing of information and resources, clinical discussion and professional networking.

Trans Care BC’s Clinical Mentorship Call is held every Thursday from 12:10 to 1:00 p.m. (Pacific Time). If you would like to be involved, please email trans.edu@phsa.ca to be included on our distribution list. Meeting minutes will be made available to all members.