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Nancy Waite on CFP’s unique role

Nancy Waite on CFP's unique role | Headshot of Dr. Nancy Waite - The Canadian Foundation For Pharmacy

Nancy Waite on CFP’s unique role

APRIL 2022 – Pharmacist-researcher and new Board member Nancy Waite shares her thoughts on CFP’s important place in promoting pharmacy in Canada.

How did you first learn about CFP? I got my first research grant from CFP in 1990 for $12,000 while I was working at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, so I know first-hand how much these grants can help. I was looking into the impact of the clinical pharmacist as a provider of compliance-enhancing strategies for hemodialysis patients.

Why is CFP an organization you want to be a part of? There really aren’t many national organizations quite like CFP – it supports research and creates the space for discussion among various stakeholders. I have been at CFP events where I was seated beside someone from industry or the Ministry of Health or other university colleagues. These are people from different areas and perspectives brought together to engage in conversations about the profession. It’s about how can we move everyone in pharmacy forward in understanding what the public needs and wants. I love that the Foundation supports practice-based research, but it’s also about how to get the evidence derived from this research out where it can propel the profession forward.

Why was this the right time for you to join the board? I worked in Canada and then the  United States returning in 2005, so it’s been great to see how CFP has evolved over time—and how it’s figuring out where pharmacy needs to go next. This is something I want to contribute to as well. Plus, I wanted to work with Executive Director Dayle Acorn before he retires later this year.

What do you bring to the board based on your expertise and experience? I co-founded the Ontario Pharmacy Evidence Network (OPEN), a research program that examines current and emerging medication management services and policies. I am also a professor and Associate Director Clinical Education at the University of Waterloo. Being a researcher and actively involved in the research/policy space, I can bring a unique view to the board. In teaching at the university, I’m also in regular contact with this next generation of emerging pharmacists. Ultimately, it’s about how we can help them in being most effective in the future. I personally think we’re in good hands as they don’t see the same barriers we do. They see the opportunities, such as the use of technology in pharmacy practice. The fact that the Board is made up of people from various parts of the profession is also appealing. I will learn from their perspectives too.

(Waite’s research program and teaching examines medication/vaccine management and pharmacy practice with a focus on innovation in an evolving health-care landscape.)

What do you see as an area where CFP can do better?  There are other pharmacy organizations doing notable things so we need to better harness our initiatives to create more synergies among us all. Our role isn’t to advocate with government for example, but how can we better connect the researchers we’re supporting to help them use the evidence they are generating for advocacy purposes.

Any final thoughts? I have to give a big shout-out to Dayle Acorn who cares so passionately about pharmacy and really believes in what CFP can do for the profession. He has been a tremendous leader and inspiration.

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