Waterloo Pharmacy hosted their seventh CE Saturday event on September 24, the annual Alumni Reunion event where graduates reconnected and heard from experts about hot topics in pharmacy.
This year the event was hosted in a hybrid approach to continue to allow alumnus from across Canada to join. The event was further open to not only its alumni and community member audience but also senior pharmacy students.
I’ve never been so excited by what’s coming and have never been so impressed by those entering the profession.
Kristen Watt, owner and pharmacist at Kristen’s Pharmacy in South Hampton and a recent winner of Ontario’s Pharmacist of the Year award by Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA), opened the day with her keynote address “Pushing the Envelope: Enhancing patient care while challenging the limitations of the profession”.
Kristen’s speech was centered around embracing change, breaking down barriers, elevating patient care and believing in yourself. Her advice to future pharmacists is to
- Utilize change and embrace technology
- Collaborate with others to develop a support network
- Take risks, set boundaries and communicate your needs
- Find joy and turn it into a passion
“I’m certain this tide shift, this season of change, this embracing of the pharmacists, is integral to the health-care team and the health of communities,” says Watt.
We also welcomed Waterloo Pharmacy alumnus (Rx2018) and entrepreneur Rui Su, who shared her experiences about taking the road less travelled, her journey from pharmacist to tech founder, pharmacy’s digital transformation and what it was like co-founding her business, MedMe Health.
The University of Waterloo ecosystem changed Rui’s perspective on where she wanted to take her career after networking with other ambitious and driven peers. MedMe Health supports over 20 million patient services and almost 4,000 pharmacies across Canada.
“My mentality growing up was to follow the status quo, which comes from my immigrant experiences of being told to keep your head down, work hard, and follow the well paved road,” says Su. “I was taught to not take up space, not make trouble and to do what was most stable. We must take on risks and unconventional tasks to make bigger changes.”
Awards were presented throughout the morning, congraulations to our 2021 award winners!
- 2021 Alumni Achievement Award - Rui Su
- 2021 Outstanding Co-op Supervisor Award - Sukhmani Sethi
- 2021 Outstanding Preceptor Award - Vishal Acharya
We are so thankful to all our speakers, hosts and participants who tuned in both virtually and in-person.