Virtual CE Saturday brings together alumni from across the country

On Sept 26, Waterloo Pharmacy held its fifth CE Saturday, the annual Alumni Reunion event that brings grads together for a morning of discussion about hot topics in pharmacy practice. Due to COVID-19, this event was held online for the first time this year and featured speakers from out of province and across Ontario.

A record number of alumni and members of the Waterloo Pharmacy community joined the event this year, with nearly 100 attendees that ranged from the class of 2011 to the class of 2020 who convocate this October.

Participants enjoyed a keynote talk from Sammu Dhaliwall, pharmacist and virtual health-care advocate with North West Telepharmacy. Dhaliwall walked viewers through innovations already available for providing virtual care and discussed the pressing need for adopting these technologies, both in the long-term as the pharmacy professional evolves and in the short-term given the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dhaliwall’s keynote was followed by three presentations from Waterloo Pharmacy faculty and alumni. Professor Nardine Nakhla gave viewers an idea of what to expect when minor ailment prescribing arrives for Ontario pharmacists. Alumni Chelsea Kwong (Rx2013) and Melanie Sanderson (Rx2018) described their experiences conducting asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in their Alberta pharmacy, and Michael Kani, an Rx2013 grad based in Saskatchewan, shared the challenges and opportunities of running independent community pharmacies.

Chelsea, Melanie and Michael speaking via webcam at virtual CE Saturday

Though School faculty and staff traditionally held this event in-person and enjoyed lively discussion with attendees, this year’s online format still allowed for an interactive event. The talks were well-received by attendees, with alumni asking questions via the question and answer feature on the event platform, and speakers providing additional information from their homes where they presented via webcam.

Michael Kani was also recognized with the 2019 School of Pharmacy Alumni Achievement in acknowledgement of the leadership he’s shown in a variety of areas including providing medical cannabis consultation for patients and education for health-care professionals. 

Waterloo Pharmacy also recognized two outstanding supporters of the experiential learning program at the event. Ginette Dutrisac received the Outstanding Preceptor of the Year award and Melissa Sayed (Rx2016 and the first Waterloo alumni to earn this award) received the Outstanding Co-op Supervisor of the Year award. See the article on these awards to learn more.

David Edwards, Hallman Director, and Megan Hannath, Advancement and Events Coordinator,  behind the scenes at the School and working physically-distanced to support CE Saturday

Thanks to everyone who attended our fifth annual CE Saturday!