Winter and the rainy season has arrived, and with it the Winter issue of Discover Magazine. In this issue we have highlighted several initiatives, including the Emphasis study, Flu Clinics, and more. We also caught up with several students who shared their favourite memories of the year, which ranged from Mr. Pharmacy to Manufacturer’s Night. Read the Winter issue below or download the PDF.
Ivy He
This week as part of our ongoing “Meet the Student Services Team” we would like to introduce Ivy He. Ivy is the Faculty’s Receptionist and is the friendly face behind the reception desk in Student Services. Read on to learn more about Ivy:
Tell us about yourself and what brought you to your role with Pharm Sci Student Services?
Prior to working at the faculty, I worked at a non-profit organization and assisted people from different age groups and cultural backgrounds. As the first point of contact for visitors to the Faculty and the Office of Student Services, I strive to provide the best experience for the students and visitors.
What is your role within Student Services?
I help students with printing credits, room bookings, supplemental and deferred exams, lab coats, and other enquiries. I also assist with different events such as the Dean’s Luncheons, Dean’s Reception, and Multiple Mini Interviews.
What do you enjoy most about your position?
I enjoy seeing our students become successful in their professional career. It makes me very happy when students come back and tell me that they enjoyed their summer job working in a pharmacy or that they were hired for a position they were seeking.
What do you do in your spare time?
I enjoy dancing and watching movies.
What is your favourite Vancouver winter-time activity?
Sitting by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie at home.
Do you have any advice for students?
Other than studying hard in school, start to develop your professional network and get involved in different professional development opportunities. Aim high, work hard, and give back.
If you have any questions for Ivy, please feel free to comment below, or contact ivy.he@ubc.ca.
Are you a social media guru who follows us on all of our channels, or can you barely tell the difference between Facebook and Twitter? Either way we would love your feedback on our social media and blogging efforts! We would really appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes out of your day to fill out the UBC Pharm Sci Digital Engagement survey. The results will help us to us create and share content tailored to your interests.
The summer, with its long days and salty breeze, is the perfect time to reflect on the journey of an undergraduate education. While we attend a fantastic institute of education, many students attest to massive amounts of career training that happens outside of a classroom. While interviewing graduating students for our most recent issue of Discover, a consistent theme emerged through the advice section – explore as many pharmacy options as possible.
When giving advice to students who are still in the Faculty, grads wrote:
“One piece of advice I would like to give to students still studying in the pharmacy program is to explore different aspects of pharmacy whether you have an interest or not. Sometimes, when you experience something you realize you enjoy it when you may not have thought you would have. Ways to do this would be to visit smaller communities on OEE rotations, and trying to get hospital exposure before 4th year. By the time your 4th year hospital rotation comes, it is too late to apply for a residency.”
– Trevor Choo
“Our Faculty is committed towards providing us with the education and training needed to address the issues and challenges of our ever changing healthcare system. Use the next few years to explore your interests and challenge yourself.”
– Aaron Sihota
“This is a great time to explore what you want to do with this degree. I think it’s so important to expand your vision and try something you have never tried before.”
– Tian Zhang
This is where the Faculty of Pharmacy Office of Experiential Education (OEE) comes into action. The OEE is responsible for coordinating the structured practical experiential programs that students are required to complete for their BSc (Pharm). Facilitating over 1000 placements around BC per year, the OEE are superstars for helping provide students with this crucial out-of-classroom learning.
The Experiential Education Courses are an opportunity for students to apply knowledge learnt in school, in a real-world, practical environment. Given the opportunity to learn in a practical setting, many students commented on finding passions and interests that traditional in-class leaning would not have provided them. Furthermore, experiential education also lets you test-drive potential career paths, helping you decide what if certain careers are compatible with your lifestyle and your pharmaceutical interests.
Angela Kim Sing, Director of the Office of Experiential Education, maintains that experiential education is amongst the most valuable:
“While we can provide students with case based learning and practice lab simulations on campus, but there is simply no substitute for working with real patients in the community.”
UBC as a whole is committed to developing well-rounded students who have had positive in and out-of-classroom experiences. Recently, UBC has committed to supporting two “enriched educational experiences” per student during their time at university. This includes community service learning, research and co-op experiences, internships and mentorships, international opportunities, and participation in a rewarding campus life.
Has experiential learning left a lasting impact on you? Tell us in the comments!
Have you heard? Our latest issue of Discover, the official Pharm Sci Magazine, is out. In the summer issue, there was a distinct focus on the future of Pharmacy – and that means our graduating class of 2014.
In this summer’s feature, we can see how the Faculty of Pharm Sci can leave a lasting impression on many of our graduates. Six of this year’s graduates had parents who were also UBC Pharmaceuticals Alumni, demonstrating that a love for pharmacy can be passed down from one generation to the next. Our featured family – the Nolan’s – had three generations of UBC pharmacists!
For many students, the Faculty itself began to feel like family. In a piece interviewing some of our pharmacy graduates, many grads commented on the tight knit community that was created during their four years at UBC. Late nights studying, skits nights, and faculty sports matches’ fostered an environment of friendship and camaraderie.
Along with reliving some of their favourite moments with UBC Pharmacy, grads also offered advice for students remaining in the program, and gave us a glimpse of what the future holds, for themselves and for the pharmacy as a whole. They commented on the importance of exploring as many different opportunities as you can while still in school, and most were very hopefully that the future of pharmacy was going to include an expanded role for pharmacists.
Read the summer issue online here.
Make sure you check out the latest issue of Discover, and comment below what was your favourite article.
–Sukhman Perhar, Communications and Marketing
Last week, a fresh batch of students graduated from UBC Pharm Sci. Congratulations to all of our graduates! While leaving UBC might be bittersweet, here are a few simple ways you can stay connected with UBC and UBC Pharm Sci community:
Register Your A-Card
This year, for the first time, graduates will receive an Alumni A-Card as part of their convocation package. Your A-Card comes with many benefits such as discounts to the UBC Bookstore, discounted entrance to UBC Varsity matches and UBC attractions, discounts to selected non-UBC stores, and continued borrowing rights with the UBC Library. The card also automatically enters you into a quarterly rewards program prize. Really, it’s a great deal – so make sure you register your A-Card here.
Connect With Pharm Sci on LinkedIn
To help foster community and networking among Pharm Sci alumni and students, we have created a Faculty LinkedIn page. Connect with us for updates on networking events, conferences, job openings, and other important news and opportunities.
Fill Out Your Advanced Profile for the Digital Alumni Yearbook
You will likely have spent time scrolling through the Digital Alumni Yearbook in the Story of Medicines during your time at UBC Pharm Sci. While all new graduates are automatically entered into the Yearbook, you can submit extra information you might like to share using the Advanced Profile form. Click here to fill out your advanced profile.
Subscribe to our Email List
Subscribing to the Pharm Sci email list is an awesome way to stay updated on class reunions, events, research and other news. Join us here.
Be Proud of Being a Young Alumnus
Did you know there is a separate branch of alumniUBC which caters to UBC graduates who are up to 10 years out from their degree? This includes you – welcome to UBC’s Young Alumni!
–Sukhman Perhar, Communications and Marketing
If you are not familiar with TED Talks, you are in for a treat. TED talks are short (18 minutes or less), powerful talks that are designed to spread ideas. Presenters are often industry leaders and trailblazers. The TED community is actively involved both online and offline, and believes in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives, and the world. One of the most inspiring features of TED Talks is that they are solutions driven – with a focus on presenting constructive solutions to social issues
In honour of some of the great content that is freely available to anyone with an internet connection, we are going to start a monthly feature – TED Talk Tuesday. Each month, we will highlight one TED Talk and we encourage everyone to engage in a conversation about the topics.
This month, I want to share a TED Talk by Freeman Hrabowski called the “4 Pillars of College success in Science”. This talk focuses on the ways that Universities can help ensure that students who enter a science program will successful graduate with a science degree. Check it out:
UBC is consistently ranked as a Top 40 University in the Sciences, and implementing some of the four pillars of success that Hrabowski discusses in his presentation.
The first pillar of success is high expectations, at both the university and high school level.
The Faculty of Sciences, and the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, sets high expectations of students from the start. The Faculty of Science has the highest admission averages, at 93.4% in 2012. Both Faculties take into consideration more than test scores and review applicant’s personal profiles (Sciences) and conduct interviews (Pharmacy). This ensures that students are well rounded and are passionate about their chosen field of study.
The second pillar of success is building a community in the STEM faculties. Rather than viewing classmates as competition for grades, internships, and jobs, students should work together and get to know each other as colleagues.
Science One and the Coordinated Science Program, alternative first year programs, help foster a sense of community among Science students. Students are placed in smaller classes and are encouraged to form frienships not just study groups. After first year, almost every science major has a Facebook group where students can interact with and get help from their peers. However, community building has to go past just the academics – which is why I was so pleased to see that there are groups such as PIGS – Pharmacy 2014 International Gastromers – a group of Pharmacy students who like to try out restaurants together.
The third pillar of success is that researchers produce researchers. Having opportunities for experiential learning, rather than just lectures, is critical to success in the sciences.
With the newly opened Pharmacists Clinic, UBC Pharm Sci students can shadow pharmacists and help provide a range of therapeutic services. This is the first University affiliated, licensed, patient care centered pharmacy. The BSc (Pharmacy) curriculum also emphasized experiential learning, in the form of clerkship completed at community hospital sites.
The last pillar is that the faculty must be willing to engage with students. A faulty that is truly invested in the success of its students is critical to their success.
Having just stared working with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, it is apparent to me how much the Faculty really does care and engage with its students. From trying to keep students informed about their admission status, to featuring their work, to providing opportunities and information about grants and scholarships, the Faculty is committed to the success of its students.
What do you think? Do you agree that these four pillars are part of student success in the sciences? What do you think UBC could be doing better? Tell us in the comments!
Jimmy Fallon and Walter White walk into a hospital to speak with a clinical pharmacist…
If you thought that the above was the only way these three subjects could be related, think again. We agree – it sounds like the start of a terrible joke. In reality, however, all three are connected by Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM) 2014.
The end of March brings Pharmacist Awareness Month to a close for the year. At UBC Pharm Sci, the University’s Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns Chapter (CAPSI UBC) and the Pharmacy Undergraduate Society (PhUS) participated in raising awareness about the role of pharmacists in patient care.
UBC PAM’s Facebook page has been active since the start of the month and was well populated with facts and information about pharmacy. For example, did you know that the B.C. Government will cover expenses on smoking cessation medication in order to help individuals to quit?
UBC Pharm Sci students and faculty also participated in Student Booths at the SUB. The Student Booths aimed to connect the larger UBC community with pharmacists and pharmacy students in order to learn more about the profession in a fun and engaging way. Performances at the SUB included Dr. Mary Ensom playing the electric violin, students playing the acoustic and electric guitar, and an impressive, artistic rendition of the Breaking Bad anti-hero completed in less than 8 minutes.
Still, March, and thus PAM, is not yet over. There is still time to attend the final event hosted by CAPSI UBC and PhUS on March 26: Avenues in Clinical Pharmacy, a conversation on career paths for pharmacists in a hospital setting. Previous events included visits to local high schools and a discussion on how pharmacists can market themselves most effectively.
All of these outstanding efforts were part of PAM celebrations across Canada. Fleming College in Ontario demonstrated how pharmacy technicians can help people with Alzheimer’s disease using colour coded-based reminders on pills and Memorial University students planned a Public Pill Drop. BC’s own Mill Bay Pharmasave shared in the fun by uploading their #creative and #informative take on Jimmy Fallon’s #Hashtag video!
What were your favourite PAM initiatives? What events would you like to see take place next year? Share with us in the comments!
-Raul Scorza, Communications & Marketing
March is a great month. Whether you’re preparing to cheer for your favorite college basketball team during March Madness or are simply ecstatic to start the only month that is also a verb (we were surprised about this too!), March has something for everyone. March is also the Canadian Pharmacists Association Pharmacist Awareness Month (PAM), an annual campaign to raise awareness about the crucial role of pharmacists in patient care.
To promote PAM, CAPSI UBC, the University’s Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns chapter; along with PhUS, the Pharmacy Undergraduate Society, have prepared a variety of events to take place throughout March:
March 3 to 7: SUB Demonstrations
This week pharmacy students are hosting a booth in the SUB to promote the profession of pharmacy among their peers. Poster presentations will be showcased on topics including asthma, COPD, diabetes, the importance of re-hydration and skin-care. On Monday and Friday, students will also demonstrate some of the tasks pharmacists undertake in their practice.
March 3 and March 6: High School Outreach
UBC Pharm Sci students will visit local high schools to inform a younger audience of some of the exciting opportunities the profession of pharmacy offers, as well as the application process to the BSc program. Pharm Sci volunteers will also highlight the importance of having a variety of healthcare professionals available within a community.
On March 3, UBC Pharm Sci visited Churchill Secondary and will visit John Oliver Secondary on March 6th.
March 13, 6-8 pm: Annual Pharmacy Information Evening (PIE)
The evening of March 13 represents a chance for prospective pharmacy students to learn more about the admissions process and student life. These insights are courtesy of students already enrolled in the program together with Barbara Gobis, who will also introduce the new Pharmacists Clinic.
March 18, 5-6:30 pm: Marketing Yourself Speaker Series
On March 18, CAPSI and PhUS will address the topic of “How to Best Market Yourself in Pharmacy” by hosting a speaker series in the Pharmaceutical Sciences Building’s Main Lecture Hall.
March 26, 5-7 pm: Hospital Pharmacy Speaker Series
CAPSI and PhUS have invited representatives from the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists to join in a conversation about the active role hospital pharmacists play in patient care. Representatives will also advise on the potential paths students can pursue within a hospital setting.
Which of the above events will you participate in? Which activities are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments section!
– Raul Scorza, Communications & Marketing Assistant
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