An early visit to Waterloo Pharmacy inspired Sapna Tripathi's path to a PharmD degree
When the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy opened its doors on April 17, 2009, eight-year-old Sapna Tripathi (PharmD ’26) toured the building with her parents and more than 2,000 community members, unaware the visit would shape her future. Seventeen years later, she is graduating from Waterloo's PharmD program at Fall 2026 Convocation.
“One of the earliest memories from that time is when I first saw the building, I remember being captivated by the exterior botanical flowers,” Tripathi says.
Back in 2009, Tripathi fondly recalls being given a counting tray and candy to mimic sorting pills. Children were invited to participate in hands-on activities with other children, designed to introduce them to the pharmacy profession.
“From that moment on, I knew pharmacy was the career I wanted to pursue, and I knew I wanted to go to Waterloo,” she adds.
Tripathi’s interest in pharmacy was also influenced by her family. Her mother is a pharmacist, and growing up, Tripathi helped her mom organize files and observed firsthand the impact pharmacists can have on patient care. To gain pharmacy work experience early on, she worked at Total Health Pharmacy in Waterloo during high school.
“I fell in love with community pharmacy because it’s truly a pillar of the community, I still stop by to say hi to the pharmacy team at Total Health when I’m in the area,” she adds.
Leading up to pharmacy school, Tripathi’s Waterloo journey started in the Honours Science program at the Faculty of Science where she completed two years before applying to the School of Pharmacy.
During her time at the School, Tripathi completed three co-op work terms throughout her first three years. Her first co-op work term was with MedEssist, where she worked in a non-traditional pharmacy role in the technology sector, helping streamline pharmacy workflows for community pharmacists. Her experience with MedEssist reinforced Waterloo’s emphasis on innovation and preparing students to shape the future of health care. Her work demonstrates how students contribute to real-world solutions that improve patient care.
“The owners really pushed me out of my comfort zone to think innovatively and implement ideas to make things easier and more efficient for community pharmacies. It was a rewarding experience and changed the way I viewed the profession,” Tripathi says.
Her second co-op work term was at a Sobey’s community pharmacy, where she administered more than 700 injections and strengthened her patient counselling skills.
“It was nerve-wracking giving injections at first, but I am very confident in my abilities now,” she says. Tripathi has now administered more than 5,000 injections along with her experience at Shoppers Drug Mart working part-time throughout pharmacy school.
Her third co-op work term was at Boggio Pharmacy in Niagara Falls. It was this work term that Tripathi felt ready to take on the pharmacist role more independently; she checked prescriptions, cultivated deep trust with her patients and completed methadone dosing.
Through three distinct co-op experiences spanning health technology, community pharmacy and independent practice, Tripathi was able to explore multiple career paths before graduation. The breadth of these experiences allows students to apply classroom learning in increasingly complex practice environments.
I remember thinking how amazing it would be to one day walk the halls at Waterloo and now with graduation here, my dreams have come to life.
Sapna Tripathi at University of Waterloo with her brothers Keval Tripathi (BASc’25), Vinay Tripathi (BMath/BBA’23) and Sunjai Tripathi (BSc’28).
Sapna Tripathi at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy grand opening April 17, 2009.
Another full circle moment occurred for Tripathi when she was matched to Sudbury for her fourth-year patient care rotations.
“I had ranked the Sudbury placement as number six because I didn’t want to be far from home, but a sense of home still found me in a different way,” she says. “My mom was born in England but grew up in Sudbury, so it’s been special to live in the same area she grew up in.”
Tripathi spent her first patient care rotation working at Health Sciences North, the regional hospital for Northeastern Ontario, where she worked collaboratively with the pharmacists, doctors, nurses, dieticians and other allied healthcare professionals. Her days consisted of participating in patient rounds and learning how continuity of care extends from the hospital to the community pharmacy setting.
Her second rotation was completed at Shoppers Drug Mart community pharmacy, followed by her third at an HIV, bariatric and chronic pain clinic alongside her Regional Clinical Coordinator. During her patient care rotations, Tripathi has been living and working with two roommates and fellow classmates.
“It’s been so much fun to live with my pharmacy classmates,” she says. “We have daily debrief sessions discussing what we did, going over interesting patient cases together and reviewing pharmacy material we’re all learning.”
Looking ahead, Tripathi hopes to combine her passion for community pharmacy with interests in pharmacy informatics and digital health product management. She’s considering opening her own pharmacy in the future.
“I grew up with my father and grandfather who run a family business, so running my own pharmacy would be a great blend of both sides of my parents’ careers,” she adds.
UWaterloo also holds a special place for Tripathi’s family, two of her brothers have graduated from Waterloo, Keval Tripathi (BASc’25), and Vinay Tripathi (BMath/BBA’23) and currently a student, Sunjai Tripathi (BSc’28). “We’re all so proud to be Waterloo alumni,” she adds.
Tripathi comments on how surreal it feels to look back at that day in 2009 to see how far she’s come. “I remember thinking how amazing it would be to one day walk the halls at Waterloo and now with graduation here, my dreams have come to life,” she says.