Waterloo Pharmacy student members of the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns (CAPSI) travelled to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to attend Professional Development Week (PDW) this past January.

PDW is an annual conference that gathers CAPSI members across Canada. Students participate in competitions, attend speaker panels and connect and network with other pharmacy students across the country. After three years of virtual events the students were able to attend the conference in person again this year.

Group of students

Students attending the opening gala at PDW 2023.

The School brought home ten total awards from the conference including the first place Award of Professionalism for executing the best Pharmacy Appreciation Month in 2022. See the full list of winners below and help us congratulate our Waterloo CAPSI team!

  • Award of Professionalism – 1st place: Sarah Fallis (Rx2023), PAM Chair 2022
  • National Compounding Competition (sponsored by Medisca) – 1st place: Julie Lac (Rx2023), Thao Dao (Rx2023), Sarah Fallis (Rx2023) and Randilynne Urslak (Rx2023)
  • National Advice for Life Competition (sponsored by PharmaChoice) – 1st place: Victoria Nguyen (Rx2025), The Internet’s Misinformation Problem: When Fake News Goes Viral presentation
  • Guy Genest Passion for Pharmacy – Sarah Fallis (Rx2023), excellence in pharmacy leadership and advocacy
  • Future of Pharmacy Excellence (sponsored by CFP) – Maher Jibrini (Rx2023), outstanding contributions to the pharmacy student experience
  • CSHP Hospital Pharmacy Student – Randilynne Urslak (Rx2023), exemplifying the trails of a future hospital pharmacy practitioner
  • Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist Competition – Chiquitah Paul (Rx2025), won first place at National CNTP competition
  • IPSF Health Campaign – 2nd place: Iryna Zhyrnova (Rx2023) and Kristy Wong (Rx2024), IPSF Health Week 2022 representatives
  • National Over-the-Counter Competition (sponsored by Pyrls)– 3rd place: Bhawani Jain (Rx2024)
  • National Student Literacy Competition (sponsored by CPhA) – 3rd place: Alicia Davis (Rx2023), Pharmacists’ Contribution to Prenatal Care article

Chiquitah Paul wins first place for Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist

Chiquitah Paul (Rx2025) wins first place for Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist.

Thank you to our Waterloo CAPSI team for organizing student events, PAM and more. We are so proud of all your achievements. CAPSI members are looking forward to attending PDW 2024 which will be hosted closer to the School in Toronto next year.

March is Pharmacy Appreciation Month. This month, in our #PAM2023 series, the School of Pharmacy is celebrating the achievements of pharmacists and the future to come.