CFP recognizes leadership with 2013 Wellspring Awards

Approximately 60 attendees joined the reception at the CPhA Conference in PEI to recognize the winners of the 2013 Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards. Named in memory of Barb Wells, this is the second year for the Awards from CFP.

“We are very pleased with the number of candidates, and our ultimate winners for this year”, states CFP Past President, Linda Prytula.

This year there were four recipients who will share the $10,000 in grants.

Robert Pammett, has worked in community pharmacist in northern British Columbia for two years. His aspirations of improving community pharmacy practice through innovative research has lead him back to return to the University of Saskatchewan where he earned his pharmacy degree, to pursue a Master of Science in Pharmacy. Mid-way through the program he has already excelled in both coursework and research, and is entrenched in mentoring undergraduate health science students of all disciplines at an inner city, student-run medical clinic.

With the help of the Wellspring grant to support his academic pursuits, he says his objectives are to enhance his leadership abilities in pharmacy practice and develop his capacity for high-quality research. He intends to share his findings through his thesis and via submissions to peer-reviewed journals.

Katrina Mulherin has had her fingers in many aspects of pharmacy. She is a Lecturer at the University of Toronto Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy as well as a clinical pharmacist in Neonatal ICU at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. She has also head held positions in community and hospital pharmacy in New Brunswick and Bermuda as well as Toronto.

Now she’s trying her hand at the world of film, with a research project/ documentary called Crossing Thresholds. With a keen interest in using documentary film techniques in qualitative research as well as dialogue to stimulate discussion and transmit knowledge Mulherin is using film to describe the experiences and perceptions of students enrolled in a pharmacy faculty who wish to pursue avenues outside of pharmacy. She says how people relate to their profession can have implications for educators, professional advocacy bodies, licensing bodies and of course to the professionals themselves.

Since she graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2000, pharmacist Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the profession, working in community pharmacy, hospital, academia and industry. She is also Vice President of the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association and chair of the Professional Development Committee. In her current role as a Regional Pulmonary Educator at the Deer Lodge Centre in Winnipeg, Petrasko is working to help standardize three pulmonary rehab programs in the city and assist in providing education programs for clinicians and patients in the program.

As part of that, funds from the Wellspring Leadership Award will be put towards a pharmacy student scholarship for the pulmonary rehab program. The scholarship recipient will assist with overall program development and focus on medication reconciliation specifically to ensure all three program sites are meeting objectives and improving patient outcomes. By demonstrating the value of pharmacists on the pulmonary rehab interdisciplinary team, the ultimate goal is to secure further pharmacy funding for the program from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

“I strongly believe in the development of leaders in the profession of pharmacy and providing an opportunity like this for a student, will foster leadership development,” says Petrasko. “I am honored and delighted to be able to provide this unique opportunity for a pharmacy student in memory of Barbara wells.”

Bryan Gray is a recent pharmacy graduate of Dalhousie University. With the support of the Wellspring Leadership Award, Gray is going back to further his learning by entering an MBA program at Lakehead University. He says he hopes to improve his understanding of operations, marketing and finance in a pharmacy environment. But more specifically, he hopes to apply these concepts to demonstrate that a pharmacist providing clinical services, such as medication reviews and smoking cessation, is financially sustainable. His vision for the future is to have a pharmacist in every pharmacy offering clinical services full-time, while regulated technicians in the dispensary check prescriptions.

“[Ms. Wells’] tireless effort to advance the protection of public health and advance pharmacy practice across North America is truly remarkable,” says Gray. “As a young practitioner, I will continue her work by embracing the expanded scope of practice as an opportunity to provide and advocate for patient-centred care.”

Presenters for this event were Committee Members, Sandra Aylward *Sobey’s/Lawton’s), Jane Farnham (Remedy’s RX), Erin Farrel-MacKenzie (PEI Pharmacists Association) and CFP Board Vice President, Marshall Moleschi (OCP).