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| Nicola Gale | Denise Kreutzwiser | Janice Yeung |
The
CFP has awarded grants to 33 pharmacists since the program was established in 2012, for a wide range of initiatives that foster personal development and leadership through study, experiential learning or mentorship.
Individual applicants can apply for up to $10,000 in funding. Winners will be honoured at a reception.
Candidates can nominate themselves or be nominated by others. Click the links below to download the criteria and application form, and send the completed application to lprytula@cfpnet.ca. The deadline has been extended to Friday, June 30 2023.
Scroll down to read details on all Award recipients to date.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
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.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
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.
In 2010, pharmacist Jeff Whissell left a successful leadership position in Alberta's provincial health authority to take on the role of Director of Pharmacy Practice at the Alberta Pharmacists Association. Here he has been encouraged to take his leadership skills even further by pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree through the Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., and his Wellspring Award grant will support that.
Whissell says completing his MBA will align with his overall objective to provide better care to Canadians through changes in the healthcare system that support higher quality care. He believes this educational pursuit will also enhance his understanding of the political, business and healthcare environments in which pharmacists practice.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
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.
In 2010, pharmacist Jeff Whissell left a successful leadership position in Alberta's provincial health authority to take on the role of Director of Pharmacy Practice at the Alberta Pharmacists Association. Here he has been encouraged to take his leadership skills even further by pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree through the Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., and his Wellspring Award grant will support that.
Whissell says completing his MBA will align with his overall objective to provide better care to Canadians through changes in the healthcare system that support higher quality care. He believes this educational pursuit will also enhance his understanding of the political, business and healthcare environments in which pharmacists practice.
Pharmacist Christina Adams, who graduated from the University of Toronto in 2006, had the pleasure of working with Barbara Wells on the vision plan for the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. She says Barbara's extensive knowledge of the profession and outstanding organization skills have inspired her to further develop her own leadership abilities.
This award will help offset costs associated with her participation in the Pharmacy Leadership Academy through the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. "In the months since I started the Pharmacy Leadership Academy I’ve already learned so much, about leading others, change management and leading yourself," says Adams. "I know I'll be able to take on more leadership roles in the future as a result."
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
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.
In 2010, pharmacist Jeff Whissell left a successful leadership position in Alberta's provincial health authority to take on the role of Director of Pharmacy Practice at the Alberta Pharmacists Association. Here he has been encouraged to take his leadership skills even further by pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree through the Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., and his Wellspring Award grant will support that.
Whissell says completing his MBA will align with his overall objective to provide better care to Canadians through changes in the healthcare system that support higher quality care. He believes this educational pursuit will also enhance his understanding of the political, business and healthcare environments in which pharmacists practice.
Pharmacist Christina Adams, who graduated from the University of Toronto in 2006, had the pleasure of working with Barbara Wells on the vision plan for the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. She says Barbara's extensive knowledge of the profession and outstanding organization skills have inspired her to further develop her own leadership abilities.
This award will help offset costs associated with her participation in the Pharmacy Leadership Academy through the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. "In the months since I started the Pharmacy Leadership Academy I’ve already learned so much, about leading others, change management and leading yourself," says Adams. "I know I'll be able to take on more leadership roles in the future as a result."
For more than 15 years Theresa Schindel has largely focused on developing continuing education for pharmacists, particularly in the area of practice change and the adoption of direct patient care roles.
In her current role as Associate Dean at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, she has decided to pursue a doctoral research degree program to gain more experience with qualitative research methods. The Wellspring Leadership Award grant will support a study she is conducting that will examine pharmacists' experience with practice change in the area of prescribing.
As an outreach pharmacist at the Calgary Drop-In Centre—one of North America’s largest shelters—Nicola Gale knows first-hand that clients living with homelessness can face a myriad of complex health issues, including concurrent addiction, mental health and increased risk of acquiring Chronic Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infections.
Working with the CUPS Liver clinic in Calgary, she is helping to develop a model of collaborative care to increase access to testing and treatment for people living with homelessness during these pandemic times.
Her Wellspring Award will support her attendance at the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU) Conference in Glasgow in October 2022, which Gale expects will be an invaluable opportunity to learn from other care providers and programs around the globe who are leading the world toward HCV elimination. “This award will also support me in developing a post-conference community of practice to bring together inner-city service and care providers to disseminate learnings from the conference, support interprofessional collaboration and dialogue, and ultimately to support better care linkages between the health and social care systems.”
Gale says pharmacists are uniquely positioned to be key players in reaching global HCV elimination. “I hope to highlight the scope of practice, clinical skills, and the community- and relationship-based care at the heart of pharmacy practice that is essential in reaching structurally vulnerable populations affected by chronic HCV,” she says.
Pharmacist Denise Kreutzwiser credits her own pharmacy residency training for giving her the opportunity to practise at a higher critical thinking and problem-solving level. It’s not surprising then that she is eager to help other pharmacists do the saem by creating a one-year ambulatory pharmacy residency program that focuses on chronic pain management and highlights the connection to mental health and rehabilitation strategies at her current workplace at St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
“We believe that by training pharmacists to take on leading roles in the ambulatory care setting, and in particular pain and mental health focused areas, we will be better positioned to care for the baby boomer population in the coming years and, hopefully, help keep patients out of hospital and better able to live a full life in the comfort of their homes for longer,” says Kreutzwiser.
To better equip her in creating an impactful and sustainable program, she will be using her Wellspring Award to fund two certificate courses through Maastricht University in the Netherlands, as well as to visit a couple of residency programs in the United States. She will also attend the American Society of Health Systems’ Pharmacists National Pharmacy Preceptors Conference in fall 2023, the only North American conference focused on education and training for pharmacy residency preceptors and residency directors.
“While this award will take my professional growth to the next level by enhancing my current skillset and knowledge base, the most important aspect is that the learnings facilitated by this award will multiply as they are passed on to my healthcare colleagues and the trainees who undertake this pharmacy residency program,” says Kreutzwiser.
In the Entry-to-Practice Doctor of Pharmacy (E2P) program at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, students complete 44 weeks of practicum across the province. But with each course ranging from two to four weeks, students are frequently relocating to rural and remote practice areas where they have little time to make meaningful connections.
Janice Yeung hopes to change that by using her Wellspring Award to support the development and pilot of a regional practicum model in which E2P PharmD students would complete a series of their pharmacy practicum experiences within a selected rural/remote community or region. “We hope this model will expand access to both education and healthcare within underserved communities and create unique experiential learning experiences for students,” says Yeung. “It may also encourage students to consider the career and networking opportunities within these regions upon graduation.”
Once the program is developed, scheduling and placement processes are expected to be piloted within a selected region and offered to third and fourth-year students by 2023/early 2024. If the initial pilot is successful, Yeung says the feasibility of expanding it further across the province will also be explored.
Alyssa is a community pharmacist at Costco in Edmonton, AB, as well as a lab facilitator at the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
She will use funds from the Wellspring Award in the Quality Improvement Project, identifying gaps in communication and practice inconsistencies related to hypo/hyperglycemic management in home care. The goal is to design a standard practice protocol to streamline glycemic management, and assess whether this improves the communication and quality of care.
Feng is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy. The Wellspring award will enable her to attend the “Media and Medicine Program: How to tell stories that make a difference” offered by Harvard Medical School. Her goal is to use knowledge gleaned through the program to reach different audiences to impact change in the profession.
Jane is President of Pharmacists for a Smoke Free Canada (PSFC) and the North Durham Family Health team Pharmacist.
Funding from the Wellspring Award will be used to develop a no-cost virtual Lower Risk Nicotine Use (LRNU) Education Symposium for pharmacists. This will include providing algorithms for harm reduction and vaping cessation algorithm to be hosted on the PSFC website. The goal is to give pharmacists more knowledge to assist patients with harm reduction strategies and the potential to become experts in LRNU.
James is an Ontario pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy Excellence at Whole Health Pharmacy Partners.
The Wellspring Award will support him in completing his Master of Science in Pharmacy program from the University of Saskatchewan, where his thesis will focus on evaluating whether educational institutions are evolving their curricula adequately to train students to provide care for gender and sexual minority patients (2SLGBTQ+ population).
“I anticipate that through my learning, research, and publication of findings that I will be able to influence the education of pharmacy students, and thereby improve access to competent pharmacy care for gender and sexual minority patients across Canada,” says James.
Rui is a Toronto-based pharmacist and co-founder of MedMe Health, a digital pharmacy care platform that leverages the clinical expertise of pharmacists to provide timely patient care. The Wellspring Award grant will support her in developing a CCCEP-accredited course that introduces terminology, trends, guidelines and practical considerations for digital health and virtual care applications in pharmacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive resource for pharmacists to better understand the vocabulary, impact and challenges of digital health for pharmacy practice now and into the future
Kerry is Executive Director, Entry-To-Practice Education and an associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Funding from the Wellspring Award will help support a pilot project to explore what patients think of patient care received from pharmacy students at an ambulatory clinic. The ultimate goal is to use patient feedback to develop future pharmacy student workplace-based assessments and help inform training and competency development.
Jaris Swidrovich is an Assistant Professor at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan. Funding from the Wellspring Award has enabled Jaris to host a recruitment and mentorship event for Indigenous youth in Saskatchewan, who are interested in becoming, or already are, pharmacy students/pharmacists. Jaris is using this opportunity to develop leadership skills through community-driven engagement and guidance from Native Canadian Elders, as opposed to conducting a typical direct and structured educational or mentorship program. He will share alll learnings and discovery with colleagues across Canada and beyond.
Canada has few Indigenous leaders, and evern fewer leaders in health care, a fact identified in Call to Action #23 from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Given that pharmacists are the most accessible healthcare providers, the profession of pharmacy’s active response to the TRC Call to Action #23 is critical. With this funding, Jaris hopes to increase the number of Indigenous pharmacists and ensure their retention in Indigenous communities.
Alexandre Chagnon, clinical pharmacist at CIUSSS de l-Estrie in Sherbrooke, Quebec, is using funds received from CFP Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards to develop a bilingual, online course to help pharmacists incorporate social media and digital health tools into their practice. Alexandre is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Health Informatics, and already speaks at conferences and via webinar about the safe and effective use of informatics in pharmacy practice and throughout the healthcare system. In fall 2019, he will begin instructing pharmacy students on the topic of health informatics.
Alexandre is the founder of askyourpharmacist.ca, a digital platform that connects patients seeking health information with reliable, evidence-based answers, provided directly by participating pharmacists. He is also co-founder of Therappx.com, a website that helps consumers identify the best healthcare apps based on reviews by a committee of healthcare professionals. Alexandre recently received the Innovation Award from the Quebec Order of Pharmacists, which credited him with adapting his practice to take advantage of new technologies to benefit the patient-pharmacist relationship.
Dan Burton is a Clinical Pharmacist at Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network in Calgary, Alberta, and founder of Healthcare Evolution for Weight Management. He is also co-founder of Pharmacy Innovators and Leaders of Alberta (PILA), a grassroots initiative to unite pharmacists in the provision of the best possible patient care by sharing knowledge and tools, developing drivers of change and inspiring a passion for leadership and innovative practice. Since 2017, PILA has offered interactive events to stimulate discussions, networking and socializing, enabling pharmacists to share ideas and foster mentorship opportunities.
With the help of funding from CFP’s Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards, Dan and the rest of the founders of PILA will continue their work, aiming for four events per year, while ensuring future growth and sustainability.
Amy Lamb is a compounding pharmacist and hormone and wellness consultant at Medi-Center Pharmacy in Saskatoon. She is using her Wellspring grant to help attain certification as a practitioner of functional medicine, offered by the Institute for Functional Medicine based in Washington. Functional medicine seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, rather than just the symptoms, through personalized treatment plans that address genetic, biochemical and lifestyle factors. Lamb will share her learnings with other pharmacists through training videos and podcasts.
Michael Kani, owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and outspoken advocate for pharmacy, will use his Wellspring award money to become a podcaster. The podcasts, which will be free, will seek to engage and challenge pharmacists about practice change, as well as share ideas and examples of innovation.
As Project Manager at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) Canada for more than 10 years, Certina Ho has done much to establish medication safety initiatives in community pharmacy practice. Yet there are still barriers in the reporting of errors, including, to some extent, a “blame and shame” culture. With help from the Wellspring Award, Ho will undertake a one-month study project under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Stewart at Robert Gordan University in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
Dr. Stewart recently led a large international study on patient/medication safety that used a mixed-method research methodology to explore barriers in reporting, as well as the potential impact of error reporting on professional reputation and career progression. “I will be able to extrapolate his innovative approaches to conduct patient/medication research in Canadian pharmacy practice,” noted Ho in her application. “This type of pharmacy research is very timely, as several Canadian pharmacy regulatory authorities are going forward with mandatory medication incident reporting.”
Patricia is launching a new leadership course series called LEAP (Leadership Experience Applied to Pharmacy), which will equip PharmD students with the leadership knowledge and skills to embrace opportunities and challenges in pharmacy practice. Gerber will put her award grant towards a student-led leadership innovations symposium.
As a pharmacist working at Pier Health in one of Canada’s most disenfranchised neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Plain says he is constantly seeking innovative solutions to treat the concurrent conditions of addiction, infection and psychosis that challenge so many of his patients. Plain will use his award funds to travel to two of the leading North American inner city healthcare clinics in the U.S. to study how they have addressed the treatment of at-risk populations
As an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto, Naomi is completing a Master of Health Professions Education from the Maastricht University in the Netherlands and aims to transfer her new-found knowledge to create and promote effective educational programs for pharmacists. “I am fortunate to be one of the few pharmacists accepted into the program,” she says.
Nicole Tsao is a pharmacist currently completing her PhD at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of B.C. Supported by the 2016 Wellspring Award, she will further develop her leadership skills at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She is also working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Mark Kunzli, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. "I want to bring people together to effect change collectively,” says Tsao.
Cheyanne Boehm is pursuing an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program that will expand her own knowledge on the subject and allow her to educate and motivate other pharmacists to pursue similar opportunities. Through a capstone project, she will implement an antimicrobial stewardship intervention to improve patient care, which will be shared through the antimicrobial stewardship team in her institution. "I believe there is a need to develop pharmacist leadership in antimicrobial stewardship to protect this valuable resource," says Boehm. "Through my stewardship project I desire to capture our current prescribing practices in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region and design an intervention to reduce inappropriate antibiotic utilization, improve selection of appropriate therapy, and increase our staff’s knowledge and application of antimicrobial stewardship principles to improve patient care."
Mark Kunzli is working in partnership with Wellspring award recipient, Nicole Tsao, in planning and delivering a one-day symposium – “Innovation to Application” – which will bring together patients, pharmacists, physician, policy-makers and researchers to share knowledge and strategies for adoption of e-health infrastructure in pharmacy practice. The initiative will serve as a forum for sharing the latest in research and practice innovation, and the information presented will be disseminated via a website, social media and through professional publications. "The goal is to foster a community of like-minded individuals and to create connections and collaborations that will enable novel healthcare innovations,” says Kunzli.
Associate Registrar of Quality Assurance with the Newfoundland and Labrador Pharmacy Board, Noelle Patten is excited about the expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice and wants to develop the leadership skills needed to support pharmacists and pharmacy techs as they navigate these changes. She will begin studies at McMaster University leading to a Masters of Health Management degree and a Certified Health Executive designation. “Pharmacy needs leaders who understand the challenges facing the larger healthcare system, and who can be a part of strategic effort to overcome those obstacles,” she says.
An Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, Sherilyn Houle is a pharmacy practice researcher with a keen interest in the uptake and effectiveness of expanded pharmacy services. She is part of a research project that is looking at the use of facilitation in pharmacy practice. By enrolling in the facilitation workshop through McGill University’s School of Continuing Studies, she hopes to get a broad exposure to techniques used in other business sectors that can be transferred to the pharmacy profession.
Jamie Kellar spends most of her time teaching and mentoring pharmacy students and residents via her role as a Pharmacy Clinician Educator at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Committed to completing a PhD in Health Professions Education at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, she says the program is aimed at creating leaders who will revolutionize education internationally. “The current changes in pharmacy education and expanding scopes of practice offer significant opportunities for Canadian pharmacists to redefine and reposition themselves as clinicians,” says Kellar.
A recent University of British Columbia pharmacy grad, Aaron Sihota saw the need to support new practitioners in developing business skills. Through the help of the Wellspring award he has developed a pilot project with a series of workshops that will offer new grads the opportunity to connect with their peers and with experienced mentors to explore some of the practical questions of working in community pharmacy. “Informing and equipping our new graduates with the tools to effectively communicate the value of pharmacists is absolutely key and needs to be done constantly,” he says.
Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession--but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.
The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”
Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.
Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.
“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”
Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.
With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy--and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.
“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.
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, Kristine Petrasko has brought her leadership skills to all spectrums of the pharmacy 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.
Bryan Gray is a 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.
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.
In 2010, pharmacist Jeff Whissell left a successful leadership position in Alberta's provincial health authority to take on the role of Director of Pharmacy Practice at the Alberta Pharmacists Association. Here he has been encouraged to take his leadership skills even further by pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree through the Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., and his Wellspring Award grant will support that.
Whissell says completing his MBA will align with his overall objective to provide better care to Canadians through changes in the healthcare system that support higher quality care. He believes this educational pursuit will also enhance his understanding of the political, business and healthcare environments in which pharmacists practice.
Pharmacist Christina Adams, who graduated from the University of Toronto in 2006, had the pleasure of working with Barbara Wells on the vision plan for the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists. She says Barbara's extensive knowledge of the profession and outstanding organization skills have inspired her to further develop her own leadership abilities.
This award will help offset costs associated with her participation in the Pharmacy Leadership Academy through the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. "In the months since I started the Pharmacy Leadership Academy I’ve already learned so much, about leading others, change management and leading yourself," says Adams. "I know I'll be able to take on more leadership roles in the future as a result."
For more than 15 years Theresa Schindel has largely focused on developing continuing education for pharmacists, particularly in the area of practice change and the adoption of direct patient care roles.
In her current role as Associate Dean at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, she has decided to pursue a doctoral research degree program to gain more experience with qualitative research methods. The Wellspring Leadership Award grant will support a study she is conducting that will examine pharmacists' experience with practice change in the area of prescribing.
When Janet MacDonnell became involved with the New Brunswick Department of Health as a subject matter expert on its Drug information System, she quickly realized she had more to learn, despite her 26 years of experience as a pharmacist.
As a result, MacDonnell will be putting her award grant towards a diploma in Health Information Management at McMaster University, which she believes will assist her in becoming a leader in health information management for the whole profession.
"I am thrilled to be selected as one of the first recipients of the Wellspring Pharmacy Leadership Awards in memory of Barb Wells," says MacDonnell. "For me, pharmacy is not a job, it is who I am. I cherish the fact we have so many opportunities within our profession to learn new things and influence the direction of the profession."
