On January 7th, friends and family were invited as the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy welcomed 122 new students at the annual white coat ceremony.
Part of the class of 2019’s orientation week, the white coat ceremony is a tradition of many medical professions. Healthcare provider students are inducted into their program by practicing members of their future profession. Those practicing members serve as ceremonial robers who help new students into their white coats.
Former Waterloo Pharmacy alumni and current School employees who are also pharmacists served as robers for the ceremony. The white coat is a symbol of professionalism and of the trust that the public endows in their pharmacists: the coats students received at the ceremony were generously supplied by the Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA), the provincial advocacy organization for pharmacists.
An exciting time to be a pharmacist
The speakers of the night represented a wide variety of pharmacy organizations, from national groups like the Canadian Pharmacists Association and the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, to the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP) and OPA on the provincial level, and the municipal Region of Waterloo Pharmacists Association.
But regardless of the scope of their organizations, the speakers’ remarks shared a common theme: it’s an exciting time to be a pharmacist. With an increasingly expanding scope of practice and a new degree requirement, the foundations of the pharmacy profession in Canada are shifting from a dispensing focus to a patient counselling role. That means pharmacists today will have more opportunities to make the most of their medication therapy expertise.
It won’t be all about the products. The products will be important, but it will be more about how you make a difference, and how you make decisions about the healthcare of your patients.
Professor Nancy Waite (left) and Region of Waterloo Pharmacists' Association representative Sherry Peister (middle) with students after the ceremonial robing.
A profession with responsibilities
The School’s Hallman Director Dave Edwards and the Faculty of Science Dean Bob Lemieux also addressed the students and they, alongside Luc Charlebois, the School’s Society of Pharmacy Students president, cautioned the students about the weight of responsibility they donned with their white coats.
It felt like a significant responsibility, but putting on the coat also felt like I was becoming part of a community. It’s exciting to be in this moment and to join a profession that has a meaningful impact on patients' lives.
Bryce Bongfeldt, third from the right, was one of 122 new pharmacy students who received their white coats at the ceremony.
The School of Pharmacy is grateful to the OPA, Scotiabank, TEVA, and Pfizer: without their support, this memorable ceremony for students and family would not be possible.