Pharmacy Mentorship Program

Community and Nontraditional Success!

2009-11-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say a quick thank you for those who signed up and came. I hope it was informative.

We will be trying to post up the powerpoint presentations that we had at the two events. No word on when and how we'll do it. This 'blog' website won't let me post.

If you guys are interested in more events, let us know (e.g.: resume writing, etc.)

Peter and My-Linh

Thanks for Attending!

2009-11-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all those who signed up and showed up. It was a great event. I will try to post our presentation for those who did not make it.

It is really important that if you sign up to please show up because we bought enough pizza to feed 85 people but only 30 people showed up. If you can't make it any longer, please post a note on the blog saying so under comments.

Please leave us comments! What we can do to improve on the sessions, whether you thought the sessions were helpful, whether or not it was what you expected.

For those who signed up on the sheet for a buddy, we'll email you directly and ask you some further questions (e.g.: what kind of buddy you'd like, areas of clinical practice, etc...)

Community Pharmacy and Other Evening Event

2009-11-07T09:57:00.001-08:00

Location: Tanz 6
Date: November 19, 2009
Time: 5:30 - 7:00

Please sign up by posting a comment below, which includes:
1. Your name
2. Your year

Hospital Pharmacy Evening Event

2009-11-07T09:56:00.001-08:00

Location: Tanz 6
Date: November 16, 2009
Time: 6:30 - 8:00

Please sign up by posting a comment below, which includes:
1. Your Name
2. Your year

Matching Students with Mentors

2009-10-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hey all!

Peter and I have finally gone through all the students who wish to be matched with a mentor. Unfortunately due to the overwhelming response (over 250 students want a mentor!), each student might not be able to get their first choice of pharmacy field. Peter and I will be organize our info sessions for the next few weeks. We won't be sending out matches until after students come to info sessions, in case their questions can be answered there.

Just FYI, this mentorship program isn't for students who are looking for 'hook ups' for summer jobs. While we will be helping you connect with a mentor, it would be unprofessional for students to attempt to get a job from them. Mentors have been told to tell us if soliciting is occurring, and unfortunately, students will be asked to leave the program if that does occur.

Hold on tight everyone. We will be contacting you with regards to the first pharmacy mentorship meeting soon.

Great Responses!

2009-10-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hey All!

The response to our last Listserve has been great! So many of you want to be teamed up with pharmacists! Due to the overwhelming response, Peter and I will be sending out 'matchings' shortly.

Also of note, we have made it now possible for you to comment on the blogs anonymously (therefore you don't have to have a Blogger account). Feel free to leave us any suggestions!

Thanks again!
My-Linh and Peter

Matching Students with Mentors

2009-10-06T06:27:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

The Pharmacy Mentorship Program will begin matching students to pharmacists soon. It is our goal to equip you with the tools and resources needed to make important decisions about your future. We have managed recruit a large number of pharmacists in hospital, community, industry, and other non-traditional pharmacy settings to generously volunteer their time to mentor students. All of these pharmacists have extensive experience and insight in their respective fields that they would like to share with you. It is an excellent opportunity for you to ask questions and explore if that pharmacy setting is right for you.

If you are interested in the student-pharmacist buddy program please complete the form below and send it to pharmacy.mentorship.ut@gmail.com. We will try our best to match you to a pharmacist that works in your setting of interest.

Name:
Year:
Area of interest (e.g.: community, hospital, research, other):
Email:

Mentor Profile: Peter Chiu (1T0)

2009-09-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Pharmacy Experiences:
Kingston General Hospital, Hotel Dieu Hospital, Shoppers Drug Mart

Pearls of Wisdom: Create your own opportunities! Don’t wait for things to come to you, be proactive and start asking questions. Go to your regular pharmacy and ask the pharmacist if you can shadow or work a couple of weekends now and again to broaden your community pharmacy persepective. Talk to upper years who have worked in hospitals during the summer about their work experience and how you can apply. I’d hate to admit it but not all pharmacy jobs are open to everyone. On occasion, you have to meet the right connection before you hear about the job opening at so and so… Your best chance at landing your eye-opening pharmacy job is to take the initiative and ask hospital directors and pharmacy managers directly. Don’t simply fax your resume to human resources because I can assure you it will lose it’s way.

About my Experiences:

Entering the faculty in first year I wasn’t sure what I would do after graduation. Now in forth year, I STILL don’t know what I want to do after graduation. But that’s okay, I’m not stressing about it. I learned a lot about the profession of pharmacy along the way, and I think this indecision of mine highlights all that pharmacy has to offer. While community and hospitals are the typical destinations for most of your colleagues, don’t forget to take a look at working in industry, for health Canada, or even take what you’ve learned and head back to school!

I’m originally from Kingston and I was fortunate enough to find my summer jobs back home for the last 3 summers. My first summer was spent at Kingston General Hospital where I learned about pharmacy flow, pharmacy operations, and the technical and clinical aspects of the job. 3/5 days were spent rotating through different tech stations. 1/5 days was a project day and the other day was spent shadowing a different pharmacist each week.

My second year was spent at Hotel Dieu Hospital where I spent the entire summer working on implementing Medication Reconciliation to the hospital by doing a pilot study on the psychiatric ward. This was certainly one of the most enriching and challenging experiences of my life.

I spent this most recent summer at shoppers drug mart learning about the technician’s roles, as well as performing various clinical activities such as counseling and meds checks with the pharmacist.

Your first and second year community and hospital site visits are helpful in introducing you to these areas, but it is impossible for you to truly appreciate these work settings until you spend a solid amount of time there. DO investigate what you want to do very closely and seize every opportunity available to you.

Should you have any questions, I can be reached at sspeter.chiu@gmail.com

All the best,

Peter

Mentor Profile: My-Linh Nguyen (1T0)

2009-09-12T15:24:00.000-07:00

Pharmacy Experiences:
The Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Centre, The Ottawa Hospital, PharmaPlus

Pearls of Wisdom: the most important thing I can tell you about pharmacy is to get your experiences in early on, so that by the time you get to fourth year, you have a general idea of what area of practice you want to be in

About my Experiences:
I started pharmacy school not knowing I wanted to be in pharmacy. After working in diverse areas of practice, I realized that there are a lot of different avenues you can explore in pharmacy. If you like working with people and establishing a long-term relationship with them, community pharmacy is most likely where you want to be. You see patients return month after month, and you can follow their progress and you learn to recognize them, and know them on a more personal level.

If you're interested in research, there are a lot of things you can do. I personally worked on a research project for 3 years at The Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Centre which looked at whether or not patients should be treated prophylactically with dalteparin when they receive a indwelling catheter. It entailed creating a research protocol, submitting ethics review applications and then gathering data from over 1000 charts. It wasn't the most glamorous job, but it really helped me understand what goes into a good or bad research paper.

If you like interacting with lots of people of different professions, hospital pharmacy is definitely for you. You get to work along side physicians, nurses and a whole bunch of different specialties. My favourite rotation was in ICU, where you got to see the difference your decisions made immediately. If you are interested in applying for hospital jobs, apply early (i.e.: December) for a summer job. [come back later in the year to learn about applications for summer jobs].

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me: mymy.nguyen@gmail.com!

About the Pharmacy Mentorship Program

2009-09-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

Want to learn more about what you can do with a Pharmacy degree?

Want insight into hospital or community pharmacy but lack the experience?

Or are you having trouble in some classes?

JOIN THE PHARMACY MENTORSHIP PROGRAM for these reasons and more!

The Mentorship Program strives to connect you with upper years and alumni who can help guide you a little more during your time in pharmacy. Many of us are looking for answers that will certainly shape how you see yourself in pharmacy, but simply don’t know who to ask. Join us for an enriching opportunity to have your questions answered from your colleagues and peers who have the experience.

Your Pharmacy Mentorship Directors,
Peter Chiu and My-Linh Nguyen