Twins Marwa Al-Hammadi and Mawada Al-Hammadi share their journey to pharmacy school
Marwa Al-Hammadi (Rx2029) and Mawada Al-Hammadi (Rx2029) were both drawn to healthcare from a young age. They began their pharmacy journey together, volunteering and later working at a local pharmacy in Kitchener-Waterloo during their high-school years.
“When we first began volunteering at our local pharmacy, I was quite shy, but I found myself coming out of my shell while connecting with patients in a vulnerable time during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Marwa. “After a day spent in the pharmacy, I felt fulfilled and knew this was a career that would satisfy me long-term.”
“We were thrilled to be a part of something that made such a huge impact on our community,” Mawada adds. “Seeing pharmacists connecting with patients and serving as an important bridge from doctor to patient and understanding the extent of how a pharmacy can help its community, drew me to the profession.”
After volunteering for a year, both Marwa and Mawada started working at the pharmacy as assistants, gaining experience and striving towards their dream of each becoming a pharmacist. Their conversations with current students on co-op at their pharmacy and hearing about their older sister’s stories of her time in the University of Waterloo Faculty of Health Sciences, solidified their top pick for pharmacy school – Waterloo.
As they gained pharmacy experience, the twins began researching pathways to become pharmacists and discovered the Conditional Admission to Pharmacy (CAP) program offered through Waterloo’s Faculty of Science.
Read more on the School of Pharmacy website.