Ali Syed (Rx2018), practicing pharmacist and PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy, has been awarded the Amit and Meena Chakma Award for Exceptional Teaching by a Student (AETS) Award. This award is given annually to four registered students in recognition of their excellence in teaching at the University of Waterloo.
Ali is an exceptional educator and mentor. He provides additional support and resources for his students and gives students opportunities to network at organized cross-disciplinary events. Over the past five years, Ali’s teaching and assessment skills have been supported by training and certifications in teaching fundamentals, remote instruction, and university teaching with the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo. Ali has applied his teaching and learning training in courses as an assessor, teaching assistant, guest lecturer and course facilitator. Ali’s teaching experience includes both small and large classes, in-person and online, for a total of 20 different courses, where he has also been actively involved in course preparation, lecture creation, assessment design and curriculum mapping. He is also the recipient of the 2023 School of Pharmacy Best Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Award.
“Feedback on Ali’s teaching is overwhelmingly positive, with students appreciating his ability to create a supportive and inclusive environment, his thorough feedback so students can identify areas of strength and of future growth, his ability to guide them through problem-solving for complex scenarios with increasing independence,” says Sherilyn Houle, associate professor and co-supervisor. “His practice experience also equips him to relate course content to practice by providing real-life examples of how he has personally applied the knowledge and skills being taught to providing patient care. Ali is a gifted teacher and positively impacts every course and student he encounters.”
Ali’s research focuses on evaluating alternative assessment methods in PharmD curricula to enhance experiential education, while identifying key factors that influence practice readiness amongst PharmD students and new graduates in Canada. After obtaining his pharmacist license, Ali primarily began working in different hospital settings, where he continues to practice across a wide range of inpatient units and outpatient clinics. Beyond his PhD, Ali has collaborated with faculty and staff on projects related to co-operative education and student preparedness for Objective Structured Clinical Exams. Ali is co-supervised by Dr. Sherilyn Houle and Dr. Nancy Waite.