News

Senior pharmacy students are supporting Ontario’s health-care system in the fight against COVID-19. These students are completing their rotations, a requirement for senior pharmacy students where they are placed in health-care sites across the province for six months.

Here are some of their stories:

Ridwaan Safi in the Owen Sound Region

A message from David Edwards, Hallman Director, University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy

The events of the past several days in the United States have compelled us to confront the issue of systemic racism in Canada as well.  Racism exists in many forms and has many negative consequences including effects on health and health care delivery. We know that we have much work to do as a society, as a university and as a School of Pharmacy dedicated to the training of health care professionals and health researchers. In January 2020, the School approved a new strategic plan in which we committed to several important initiatives including:

On May 20, the School began rolling out Four Seasons of Reconciliation, an online course that examines Canadian history and Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples from an Indigenous perspective.  This course is available to faculty and staff as part of the School’s ongoing commitment to achieving reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people.

Gaganpal Mutti (Rx2017) is the kind of pharmacist who likes to get to know his patients. Hearing their stories and easing their concerns is what makes his days at the Humber River Hospital in Toronto rewarding.

Professor Barb Coulston has been a passionate member of the School of Pharmacy’s faculty for several years, inspiring students with her diverse blend of clinical experience and engaging lecture style. Prof. Coulston is this year’s recipient of the School of Pharmacy Excellence in Pharmacy Teaching Award.

Aman Hansra (Rx2012) is a pharmacist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in downtown Toronto. Before COVID-19, a normal day for her meant supporting patients in the facility’s high-risk schizophrenia unit, where she’s the inpatient pharmacist. The unit has 25 beds. Days begin with a huddle where the team goes over expectations, updates on patients and red-flags related to safety.

by Krista Jones and Nick Walsh

Krista Jones and Nick Walsh are fourth-year pharmacy students who completed their first patient care rotation at the Sault Area Hospital. Krista was supervised by preceptor Kaitlin Fleury, and Nick was supervised by preceptors Amy McMann and Alana Brescacin.

Kristina Kozlovsky (Rx2018) has never more clearly appreciated the importance of pharmacists as stewards of the drug supply.

There’s a sign next to the new staff exit of the London Health Sciences Centre’s Victoria Hospital.

Take a moment to think about today. It says. Consider three things that went well. Be proud of the care you gave. Think of one thing that was difficult… let it go.

When COVID-19 first hit Canada, Brad Murphy’s (Rx2019) job at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa continued as normal. As a research pharmacist, he supports projects in pharmacogenomics — using an individual’s genetic markers to make decisions about their medications — in oncology and mental health, and he was able to keep working on those projects with little disruption.