Kelsey-Ann Prior (award winner), Mikaela Ney (award winner), Feridun Hamdullahpur (unviersity president), Nastaran Keshmiri (pharmacy student), Munaza Saleem (award winner) and Ridwaan Safi (pharmacy student)
This April, three pharmacy students were recognized for their leadership contributions to the University of Waterloo community. Kelsey-Ann Prior (Rx2020), Mikaela Ney (Rx2020) and Munaza Saleem (Rx2019) each received a Federation of Students (Feds) Undergraduate Student Leadership Award, annual awards that are conferred upon up to ten students. Munaza also received the additional prestigious recognition of a President’s Student Leadership Award which is given to the most outstanding nominee for the Feds awards.
Here’s more information about each of the winners:
Munaza Saleem - FEDS Undergraduate Student Leadership Award and President's Student Leadership Award
Munaza’s leadership experiences span her whole involvement with the University of Waterloo, from her time as an undergraduate in the Faculty of Science to her four years as a pharmacy student. She has held positions with the Science Society in the Faculty of Science and on committees at the School of Pharmacy. She also volunteers with various organizations that have positively impacted her fellow students and the broader community.
Munaza’s leadership has bettered the lives of thousands through her participation in developing YouthScope.org, a website which puts students in touch with programs, scholarships, competitions, and more. This online database has enabled more than 20,000 students to discover and participate in meaningful extracurricular opportunities.
“As a student, I wish I had a thorough resource or database to learn about the various enrichment programs or student conferences Canada had to offer,” explains Munaza. “Since there were none out there, I decided to create one.”
As a future pharmacist she’s also taken strides to benefit the lives of patients. After holding an intern position with the Rare Genomics Institute, Munaza collaborated with an international team of health care professionals and software developers to build Connect2Cure. It’s a mobile app that connects cancer patients worldwide, creating a community that supports patient care mentally and physically, while also providing evidence-based medication information and alerts to increase medication adherence.
She also has a strong interest in advocacy for women and is part of the Plan International’s #GirlsBelongHere initiative which advocates for gender equity. She was selected from an applicant pool of young women across Canada to step into the role of Minister of Defense for a day, giving her a unique opportunity to engage in Canada’s political process to represent the University of Waterloo on a national stage.
“Taking on leadership roles has made such a constructive impact on my university experience,” says Munaza. “These roles gave me an opportunity to give back to the University of Waterloo and also create positive change in the community. Being a leader is a way to challenge yourself and grow as a professional.”
Kelsey-Ann Prior - FEDS Undergraduate Student Leadership Award
Kelsey is a highly involved pharmacy student with an interest in hospital pharmacy practice. She’s the Waterloo Pharmacy student representative of the the Ontario Pharmacy Residency Association (OPRA), which connects students to the pharmacy residency programs that run in hospitals and ambulatory care settings across Ontario.
As the OPRA rep, she organized of the Ontario Hospital Pharmacy Info Night which brought about 150 pharmacy students from the University of Toronto and Waterloo to the School of Pharmacy. Kelsey worked with fourteen residency programs from across Ontario, ensuring that the programs had physical booths or Skype-in sessions where they discussed their programs with prospective students. This annual event has traditionally been hosted in Toronto, but due to Kelsey’s leadership, it was brought to the University of Waterloo, giving more of our students a chance to attend and helping residency programs that are housed in cities like London, Hamilton, and Kingston, learn more about Waterloo.
Kelsey also writes bi-monthly educational articles for a pharmacy student newsletter and is the student communications representative for the national Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. As such, she informs students about events and organizes continuing education sessions where hospital pharmacists are involved or showcased. Kelsey balances all of these commitments on top of a busy pharmacy education.
“I’ve taken areas I’ve always had an interest in, such as communication, and found ways to incorporate that into my leadership positions,” she explains. “Good time management skills have helped me succeed and I’m proud of the risks I’ve taken. Going outside my comfort zone and taking on more responsibilities has helped me strengthen my skills and has benefitted my peers.”
Mikaela Ney- FEDS Undergraduate Student Leadership Award
Mikaela was recognized for her continuing support of her peers in the pharmacy program. She is one of a small handful of peer success coaches trained by the Student Success Office and based at the School of Pharmacy. As such, she runs one-on-one and group coaching sessions to mentor first year pharmacy students, providing either subject-specific support or general support around essential skills like time management and effective studying.
“Peer mentoring is such a rewarding experience,” Mikaela reflects. “It’s gratifying to help new students transition into our professional program and to see the students I work with go onto achieve success.”
Mikaela also supports her pharmacy student peers by acting as the Waterloo Pharmacy representative to the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI). She attends regular teleconferences with this group of pharmacy students from across Canada and also meets with them at major pharmacy conferences. CAPSI organizes numerous events for pharmacy students and their communities such as public education presentations they deliver in elementary school classrooms during Pharmacist Awareness Month. Mikaela’s also supported CAPSI in their advocacy efforts; she collaborated with the group to draft a letter in support of universal pharmacare which was sent to the federal government.
“I’m grateful for the strong support system from my family and friends,” she says. “They’ve enabled me to seek out these opportunities, and to experience how rewarding it is to deliver events and education that benefit my peers and my community.”