From a young age, Ilinca Andriescu (Rx2026) knew that a healthcare career was in her future, but she didn’t know where exactly her journey would lead her. During her high school years, she focused on completing a dual credit with the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), a local college program. Seeing pharmacists in action solidified that a pharmacy career was the best path for her, pairing therapeutic knowledge with patient care. After high school, Ilinca had stepped into the pharmacy world and wanted to find a pharmacy school that offered her the best education and experiences.
"While it was a big part of my decision, it wasn’t just the co-op program that drew me to the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy," says Ilinca.
The School’s forward-thinking reputation, research opportunities and the varied experiential learning that is available to students all factored into my decision to pick Waterloo Pharmacy.
Early undergraduate years
It was during a University Fair in Calgary that Ilinca heard of the Conditional Admission to Pharmacy (CAP) program. The opportunity to gain additional experience during her first two undergraduate years, the networking abilities, achieving two degrees in six years and the early ties to the School were enticing to Ilinca.
“It was a done deal for me,” Ilinca says. “I knew I wanted to be a pharmacist, and this was the best path for me.”
Entering the CAP program at the University of Waterloo Faculty of Science during the pandemic wasn’t the typical CAP experience, but making friends and having a support network online was helpful for Ilinca. “I appreciated the guidance from the pharmacy advisors, the transition into the PharmD program was smooth and stress-free,” she adds.
Before starting pharmacy school, Ilinca completed a four-month internship in Sion, Switzerland with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) through the Excellence Research Internship Program (ERIP). At the interdisciplinary stroke rehabilitation clinic, she was immersed in its patient research studies which focused on impact of neurostimulation signaling treatment on motor recovery post-stroke. In this role, she educated patients in French and presented a literature review to her colleagues.
“This exchange was so much more than work experience, it gave me the opportunity to explore a new culture, form new friendships and travel!” she says.
Co-op opens doors
Ilinca spent her first co-op in a clinical role at Extend Pharmacy, a specialty cancer community pharmacy in Ottawa where patients are referred to directly from a hospital.
“I loved my co-op experience at Extend Pharmacy,” she says. “It was a steep learning curve, as we hadn’t learned about blood pressure and oncology in class yet my supervisor was understanding, patient and helpful. Co-op work terms have a two-way benefit, solidifying topics learned in class while working, or the opposite – implementing what I learned on co-op back in the classroom.”
Her next co-op work term was in a community pharmacy where she dispensed medications for a small pharmacy, Elora Apothecary in Elora. She wanted to experience a small-town pharmacy to see how it differed from a big city pharmacy. Ilinca loved seeing how healthcare providers built strong relationships with the residents in their tight-knit community.
Ilinca is interested in experiencing the industry side of pharmacy for her last co-op.
“Being able to choose different avenues of the pharmacy world is incredible, it gives me the flexibility to explore new things. I can tailor what I want to learn and the jobs I’m applying to,” she says.
Waterloo life
Ilinca's first two years at Waterloo Pharmacy have been full of different enriching experiences. She travelled to England through Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) International Pharmaceutical Students' Federation (IPSF) student exchange program where she witnessed the difference in pharmacy practice compared to Canada. She was the co-senior social co-ordinator for the local Waterloo CAPSI council where she helped co-ordinate big events including the outdoor movie night and Waterloo’s next top pharmacist.
“Planning these two events has improved my leadership, critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills,” she says.
Research opportunities are also available for students that want to explore the research side of pharmacy. During CAP, Ilinca spent four months with Dr. Emmanuel Ho in his lab at Waterloo Pharmacy through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) research internship. She collaborated with a master’s student to develop an experiment. While in the PharmD program, she continued to work on a literature review alongside the masters student and was co-listed on the paper Pneumolysin-responsive liposomal platform forselective treatment of Streptococcus pneumoniae that was published in September 2024.
“This research process has helped me learn more about drug delivery. I have gained proficient skills in primary literature search which has directly helped me make therapeutic recommendations during my co-op placements,” she says.
Additionally, Ilinca created a 67 page summary book regarding Ontario’s Minor Ailments and alongside her mentor is trying to publish a more comprehensive guide.
At Professional Development Week (PDW), an annual pharmacy student conference, Ilinca and her friends and classmates placed 3rd at the national compounding competition as first years. "This year we will be competing again in January 2025 in Halifax," she adds.
Ilinca is looking forward to the next two years at Waterloo Pharmacy and is keen to explore more clinical specializations to find her pharmacy career path.