Joey Champigny (Rx2020) is a clinical pharmacist at the Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team (CFFM), where he completed his residency program, as well as at Plum Tree Memory Care.
Joey's journey into pharmacy began in high school, where he shadowed a pharmacist at his local hospital. During one of his PharmD co-op work terms at the Two Rivers Family Health Team, he realized that pharmacists can be an integral part of a primary care team.
After seeing a pharmacist in action, I knew I wanted to pursue pharmacy as a career.
The Residency Experience
While working at CFFM, Joey was their only resident. This residency experience opened a lot of opportunities for him that he didn’t know were possible.
“It can be intimidating to go on this journey alone, but my residency co-ordinator Barb Coulston and residency director Dr. Jeff Nagge made it such a great experience for me,” Champigny says.
His residency in primary care followed a longitudinal model, which allowed him to work in several rotations concurrently.
Throughout his residency, Joey worked in diabetes, hypertension, and anticoagulation clinics, among others. In addition, he spent time at GeriMedRisk, a consultation practice as well as with the MINT memory clinic.
He also had the opportunity to work with inpatients at Grand River Hospital on the Clinical Teaching Unit (CTU) that served as the COVID floor. Throughout residency, he was also a teaching assistant and guest lecturer at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy which was something he thoroughly enjoyed and where he solidified his interest in teaching.
Joey Champigny
Q&A with Joey Champigny
UW: Why did you choose residency?
JC: I love knowing my patients and building relationships with them. When I went into residency, I had a lot of interest in cardiology and patient care and wished to explore those avenues.
UW: What was the biggest challenge during your residency?
JC: Time management. I struggled with saying no since every opportunity was so exciting. This led to a very high workload at times, but I learned how to prioritize through this program.
UW: What was your favourite part of your residency?
JC: The variety of cases, patients, and teams I got to work with in primary care. On top of that, we opened the COVID vaccine clinic during my residency program, which was a huge undertaking. I enjoyed working with professors Brett Barret and Dr. Kelly Grindrod from the School of Pharmacy, training new pharmacists across the region, preparing vaccines, and administering them. A highlight for me was also working at the outpatient heart function clinic at St Mary’s Hospital.
UW: If you could go back in time and tell yourself one thing before entering the residency program, what would it be?
JC: I would tell myself to focus on the overall process instead of thinking about what will get me a job. Residency is about developing all the skills that will increase your possibility of getting the positions you want. My advice to any future candidates would be - to be open to everything, you may not realize something is an interest of yours until you do it.
Future Plans
Joey is currently working at CFFM and at Plum Tree Memory Care with a large focus on dementia care. He is also a regular TA at the School of Pharmacy.
“My ideal scenario for the future would be to work in a primary care practice and to teach as a professor with the School of Pharmacy,” he says.
He enjoys training new pharmacists in MINT clinics and is preparing to set up a new clinic in British Columbia. He is currently working on developing new skills in dementia care by becoming a board-certified geriatric pharmacist (BCGP) to optimize drug therapy for his patients.
“I’m so glad to have gotten an opportunity to spend time with people that have encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone,” Champigny says.
He is looking forward to being able to do the same for future students himself.
Read more about the Residency Program.