How Hailey Granger embraced new experiences and became involved in community engagement far from home
When Hailey Granger (Rx2025) relocated to Sudbury for six months to complete her Patient Care Rotations, she knew the transition would challenge her. To combat loneliness in a new place she set out to explore new opportunities, network and expand her circle.
“Every time I’ve moved I’ve discovered how extroverted I am and how much I rely on social circles,” she says. “Sudbury was my first pick; I lived with my fellow classmate and best friend Jasmine Lu (Rx2025) where we relied on one another while we were so far away from our friends and families.”
Her Rotations included time in the intensive care unit at Health Science North, a community pharmacy at Shoppers Drug Mart and back to Health Science North in the outpatient clinic. Each placement deepened her clinical knowledge and advanced critical thinking and expanded her patient counselling skills. She learned how to adapt to high-volume environments and improved her collaboration and communication skills across different multidisciplinary teams.
Hailey Granger (Rx2025) and Jasmine Lu (Rx2025) at the big nickel in Sudbury, Ontario. A monument dedicated to the mining history of Sudbury.
An interprofessional student-led opportunity
Halfway through her Rotations, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) reached out to the School of Pharmacy with an interprofessional student-led health project: pharmacy and health students partner with Reach Accès Zhibbi (RAZ) to work collaboratively to deliver a health promotion presentation to youth aged 12-25 at the Youth Wellness Hub, located inside the YMCA in Sudbury, Ontario. Students from multiple health care disciplines gain practical experience in team-based learning and community engagement with RAZ.
I’ve seen first-hand the health disparity in Northern Ontario. We learn about it in School but until you’re in it, it’s impossible to appreciate all that we have in cities, the accessibility to necessities such as education, healthcare and food. I jumped at this chance, the chance to give back to the community while connecting with other healthcare students.
Granger and Kate Branigan, Masters in Neuroscience student at Laurentian University, teamed up to design a session focused on Cannabis Harm Reduction with one goal in mind: acknowledge that cannabis exposure may be part of their lives and to provide them with the tools they needs to minimize health risks if they choose to use it.
“The opportunity to speak to the younger generation is an important piece of the solution to improve future health outcomes. When we speak to them as adults, they are more receptive to the information,” adds Granger.
The teens were engaged and receptive to the way the information was presented, asking thoughtful questions and participating in a group activity Granger and Branigan created.
“The session wasn’t mandatory; they could have grabbed a snack and left,” says Granger. “It’s a testament to the group and their willingness to learn, that shows you they are thinking critically about their decisions. They all stayed until the end of our presentation.”
Learning from each other
Granger and Branigan also learned a lot from one another. Branigan’s experience with youth programming and working with them in the past helped structure the presentation to keep the teens engaged, while Granger provided pharmaceutical knowledge on cannabis use.
“We succeeded in strong knowledge transfer between us by touching on therapeutics, but in a way that was accessible to the teens,” says Granger. “Our focus was to educate them, so they have the tools to feel empowered to make safe choices”
“One of our main goals at the Youth Wellness Hub is to provide information through a trauma-informed and harm-reduction lens, and Hailey did an exceptional job with that,” says Branigan. “Youth can sometimes be skeptical of community partners coming in, but Hailey met them exactly where they were at and made everything both digestible and genuinely informative. I had a great experience collaborating with her and helping deliver the workshop.”
The next chapter
Reflecting on her time at Waterloo, Granger emphasizes the interprofessional experiences that have shaped her learning and confidence. The next step in her journey takes her to Toronto to explore big city living while working part-time and preparing for her final pharmacy licensing exam.
“Moving no longer scares me but excites me,” she says. “Over the last three and a half years I’ve had to adapt to different environments. Waterloo has given me the ability to adapt to different situations quickly and efficiently,” Granger says.
“I’m exploring hospital pharmacy residencies and whether I want to start my career in a large city or somewhere smaller. I know I can form close relationships despite changing my location. I’m open to new experiences, who knows maybe my pharmacy career will take me to another province,” she adds.
Granger is equipped with the knowledge and real-world experience to step into the pharmacist role, no matter where her journey takes her.