Career ready: co-op facilitated learning across pharmacy sectors
Janine Fletcher (she/her) is in her 3B term of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program at the University of Waterloo. Throughout her time as a co-op student, Janine has explored multiple sides of health care from hospital emergency rooms to independent pharmacies.
Janine's co-op journey
Work term one: Janine’s first co-op term was at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton, ON where she collected the Best Possible Medication Histories (BPMH) from patients in the emergency room.
She also had the opportunity to conduct policy review audits and work on projects with interdisciplinary hospital councils to help the hospital prepare for accreditation.
Work term two: In her second work term, Janine worked for I.D.A. pharmacy, which is an independent pharmacy in Burlington, ON. She was tasked with performing medication reviews, teaching patients how to take their medications and administering flu and COVID-19 vaccines.
Work term three: For her most recent co-op term, Janine tried out the corporate side of pharmacy, working at the Shoppers Drug Mart head office. There, she worked on the prescribing services team which manages the national minor ailment and chronic prescribing portfolios. She also worked on exciting regulatory medical information and digital health products.
Q&A with Janine
What has been the most rewarding thing about co-op?
“I think it's been exploring different sectors of pharmacy from hospital to community to corporate office. It has given me a well-rounded perspective of our health care system and also how pharmacists in different roles positively impact patients and communities. Looking back at each co-op I can see how the work I’ve done has been able to help people - that is really rewarding for me.”
What has been the most challenging thing about co-op?
“Since I chose roles in different sectors, my first few weeks always include a steep learning curve. It's been valuable to gain this experience as a student, where employers understand that you are there to learn and are eager to support that process.”
“One of the perks of the co-op program is there's usually another Waterloo student that has done the role before you. I always reach out to previous students. I started doing this and I found it was helpful to get insights and ease with the transition into new roles.”
“Pharmacy is a small program, which makes it easier to reach out to upper years and find someone to help you.”
Tell me a bit more about the challenges that you have faced in co-op.
“When I was working at the Shoppers Drug Mart head office, my supervisor was promoted to another team a few weeks into my work term. Initially, this was a bit stressful, as it meant my new supervisor was a level up in the organization. However, this ended up being a really great growth opportunity for me as I got to take on more responsibility in portfolio management and worked more closely with senior leaders.”
What is something that you were curious to learn about from each co-op term?
“I was curious to learn more about how pharmacists can make an impact on health care. In each co-op, this impact has been shown to me in different ways."
"At Shoppers Drug Mart, it was a more macro level. I was thinking about pharmacies across Canada. All the prospective projects and initiatives I worked on in that role were aimed at how we can help pharmacists support patients in their distinct communities.”
“At the hospital, I was interested to learn about the health care system through the policy and project work. I got an inside look at hospital administration and how high-level decisions are made, such as making new policies and implementing new procedures. That was interesting to learn about."
"It was also valuable to learn how pharmacists play a critical role in providing frontline care to patients during their hospital admission.”
“At my second co-op at I.D.A., I was curious to learn how the new minor ailments scope for pharmacists had impacted community pharmacy. Before starting pharmacy school, I worked in a community pharmacy.”
“This co-op was the first time I would be back working in a pharmacy with the expanded minor ailment scope that pharmacists have in Ontario. I was curious to see how that impacted the workflow and patient care. It was interesting to see how each pharmacist took on that role and the benefit it had on improving access to care for patients.”
What did you enjoy about each company's culture?
“At Shoppers Drug Mart head office, I really enjoyed the coffee chat culture. Throughout my co-op term, I had the opportunity to sit down with people and hear about their career journeys and current roles. This helped me to learn a lot more about the organization, expand my network and receive a lot of helpful advice.”
“At the hospital, I really enjoyed the culture of learning. I worked at a teaching hospital, so everyone was open to letting you shadow and ask questions. Any time I was shadowing or in a different clinical unit, they were always very open to my questions and helped facilitate my learning in new areas.”
“In the independent pharmacy I appreciated the long-standing relationship the pharmacy team had with patients in the community. Many of the patients and their families have been coming to that pharmacy for several years. I remember when we heard that one of the elderly patients spouse had passed away, the pharmacist called to check in. They asked if there was anything we could do to help like having their medications delivered so they didn’t have to make a trip to the store.”
Did your classroom learning prepare you for your co-op's, or did you do more learning on the job?
“The PharmD curriculum has prepared me with clinical knowledge as well as soft skills like communication, time management and problem solving. I've used a combination of these skills in all of my roles, since they have all been in very different environments.”
“However, I've also had to learn a lot on the job each time. I'm really grateful to have had great supervisors that have encouraged me to take on tasks I've been interested in learning more about, which has supplemented my classroom learning.”
What is the most interesting thing you've done while on a work term?
“In my most recent role at the Shoppers Drug Mart head office, I led an improvement initiative on the digital minor ailment assessment forms used in pharmacies across the country. When a pharmacist conducts a minor ailment assessment for a patient they require documentation.”
“This aspect of the job was interesting to me because it combined regulatory requirements with digital tools used in the role. I learned that digital health tools can play a part in making pharmacist assessments more efficient in a busy community pharmacy setting.”
How has co-op helped you with your career goals?
“One of the reasons I chose to do my PharmD at the University of Waterloo was that it's the only Pharmacy co-op program we have in Canada. I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I wasn’t sure which area I wanted to specialize in.”
“The co-op program has given me the opportunity to explore different settings through my roles. I've been able to build a network of health care professionals and will graduate from school with a well-rounded set of work experience. It has been a highlight of my degree and complemented my learning in an impactful way.”
What’s next for you?
“After this study term, I will start patient care rotations. The last eight months of the PharmD program at Waterloo require students to go into different regions all over Ontario.”
“We do three different eight-week rotations and each rotation will likely be in a different environment. So, it could be a hospital, community pharmacy, a family health team or long-term care home to name a few of the possibilities.”
“I'm excited to gain more experience in different areas of pharmacy and be able to apply all the things I’ve learned to help patients and the community.”
“The PharmD program opens several doors for post-graduate studies and prepares me to do different roles such as an industry residency program, a master's program or enter into the workforce in a corporate or frontline pharmacist role. I'm going to take this year to decide which path I'm going to pursue.”
