Professor Barb Coulston has been a passionate member of the School of Pharmacy’s faculty for several years, inspiring students with her diverse blend of clinical experience and engaging lecture style. Prof. Coulston is this year’s recipient of the School of Pharmacy Excellence in Pharmacy Teaching Award.
Sheena Haines is one of those students. The class of 2021 student was taking Prof. Coulston’s Integrated Patient-Focused Care course in March when the University of Waterloo made the decision to switch teaching to an online setting.
“Profsessor Coulston quickly put into action a plan to get all the materials students needed online in a timely manner and responded to feedback on her plan,” says Sheena. “She was fair, understanding, and engaged with us throughout this process. Prof. Coulston truly went the extra mile in her daily updates that often included a comic or photo.”
Coulston even created "Pet Photos" and "Netflix Recommendations" discussion boards on Learn to provide students with opportunities to share their passions and interests and take their minds off of COVID-19.
In addition to teaching clinical topics at the School of Pharmacy, Prof. Coulston is a practicing pharmacist with the Centre for Family Medicine, a health clinic next to the School. She specializes in supporting patients with chronic pain and is an integral member of the Centre’s award-winning Primary Care Chronic Pain Clinic.
Prof. Coulston wearing the personal protective equipment she uses at work to prevent the spread of COVID-19
She brings this practice experience with her into the classroom, and students comment that the deep care she has for her patients is evident in her lecturing. She acts a role model and a reminder to keep the patient experience at the center of providing care.
It was evident that Prof. Coulston was there to support us in our education, but also in our coping with this uncertain and unprecedented time. She was committed to ensuring that we still received a high quality of education in light of the circumstances she was facing. Although Prof. Coulston wears many hats, we all felt like we were a priority for her, and I think I speak for all of Rx2021 when I say that we deeply appreciate everything she did for us in the Winter 2020 term.
In the PharmD program, Prof. Coulston coordinates major clinical courses and regularly appears as a guest lecturer in classes and educational events, sharing her diverse expertise. Her dedication and passion are clear in all these teaching opportunities and are apparent in her successes as a digital educator as well. She also is the Program Coordinator for the School’s Ambulatory Care Residency Program which is offered in partnership with the Centre for Family Medicine. This unique program is the only ambulatory care residency in Canada fully immersed in a non-hospital primary care environment, and Prof. Coulston was integral to developing and implementing this program.
Congratulations, Professor Coulston!