Bridget Braceland is a primary care pharmacist in the Kitchener-based New Vision Family Health Team. She specializes in the field of chronic disease management and often works with older adult patients.
Where they’re working:
From day one of pharmacy school, Bridget knew she wanted to work in a Family Health Team (FHT). As a co-op student she completed two work terms with New Vision FHT, and loved the collaborative nature of FHT practice:
When you’re part of a cohesive and forward-thinking FHT, such as New Vision, the most rewarding aspect is that you’re contributing to the delivery of patient-centered care, rather than clinician-centered or system-centered care.
Reflections
on
the
Program
My experiences while on co-op were truly formative and a driving force for the direction my career took upon graduation. The value of engaging on a day-to-day basis with a team of skilled clinicians and establishing working relationships with future mentors cannot be overstated.
“At present, the biggest challenge I face is overcoming the silos that exists within and between health care sectors in the region. Although great strides have been made to improve communication and integrate medical record systems, significant barriers to minimizing assessment duplication and executing coordinated care planning still remain.”
Working with Older Adults
Bridget’s day-to-day tasks often involve working with older patients, and she acknowledges the different mindset that an elderly patient population requires. The patients are therapeutically complex, more vulnerable to adverse drug reactions, and require consistent and integrated care, especially to stay independent at home. Though she’s stimulated by the therapeutic and interprofessional challenges, Bridget is most grateful that this type of practice personifies her core values.
Shifting your focus away from cure and compliance towards comfort and quality of life is about demonstrating empathy and compassion. Emphasizing de-prescribing and being generous of your time and knowledge is about demonstrating respect for your elders and their wishes.
And perhaps most importantly, advocating for equitable access to services and prosocial healthcare policy is about demonstrating egalitarianism.”
Alumni Answers
UW: In addition to your busy day-to-day job, you’re a preceptor for our co-op students. What do you hope students will gain from working with you?:
BB: As an alumnus of UW’s progressive pharmacy education, it only seemed natural to pay it forward! My objective as a preceptor is to provide students with daily opportunities to assess patients and make recommendations. By the end of the work term, my hope is that each student recognizes that the therapeutics is the easy part. The real challenge is rapport building, shared decision making and coordinated follow-up. In other words, effective communication is the most important element to achieving positive health outcomes and avoiding adverse events.
UW: What advice do you have for current students interested in family health team practice?
BB: Those interested in working in a FHT would be wise to gain a broad and accurate understanding of the scopes of practice of the clinicians that make up the team. By scope I mean not just what acts they’re licensed to perform, but how each profession is governed, where are the skill-set overlaps, what remuneration or incentive structures are in use, and what are current obstacles to team-based service delivery. I believe this knowledge is the foundation necessary to become a self-directed and valuable ambassador of the team as well as your own profession.
UW: You’ve spent a lot of time working and volunteering in the KW area? What do you like about this area?
BB: Fourteen years ago I could’ve never predicted how much and how fast this city would grow. To some degree I feel like I’ve grown up alongside Waterloo; I’ve made incredible friends here, met my husband here, started my career here and very recently started my own family here. KW has been very good to me, and certainly do feel a sense of obligation to give back to this region in whatever way I can.
Non-Pharm Fun
"I spend as much time as I can with my beautiful daughter, Olivia. She brings more joy to my life that I could’ve possibly imagined. With any luck she’ll love hiking and travelling as much as I do!”
What to know where else pharmacy can take you? Read more Five Years in the Field profiles.