spring-capsil-2023

CAPSIL SPRING

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHARMACY STUDENTS AND INTERNS LETTER

Sponsors

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR MAKING THE CAPSIL POSSIBLE!

Al-amin Ahamed, Christine Vaccaro, Florence Bedard Perrault, Joe Kamal, Jonathan Chan, Madison Wong, Panteha Borzooeyan, Yasmeen Ameeriar, Winnie Tran, Hassan Lyoubi, Kira Walker, SooMin Park, Megan Heath, Christen Ghabbour

Editor’s Address

Dear members and supporters, Welcome to the last CAPSIL issue of the term. This is a very bittersweet moment for me, as this is my last issue with CAPSI. First, a huge congratulations to all of the 2023 pharmacy graduates! I have no doubt that you will be change makers who positively impact the pharmacy space for decades to come. Best of luck to all other pharmacy students on your rotations’ this summer. I hope you all take the time to rest and recover from a challenging academic year.

With that being said, it has been an absolute pleasure being your CAPSIL Editor this year. It has been a great networking and learning opportunity for me as I have worked to develop stronger skills in communication and graphic design. I hope the past three issues have been a joy for you to read as well. New to this term was the CAPSIL Student Spotlight column that I hoped to use to “humanize” us pharmacy students. It has been so enriching to hear from so many students all across the country.

AL-AMIN AHAMED

newsletter. I would like to also thank CAPSI National for creating such a rewarding and fun opportunity. I leave having created so many lasting friendships!

I wish the incoming council the best of luck in all their endeavours. With Madi at the helm, I have no doubt that it will be yet another successful year.

To my successor, Jazzi...slay! I have no doubt that you will do such a wonderful job with the CAPSIL this upcoming term. I wish you all the best and congratulate you on your achievement.

I hope you all enjoy reading this final issue. Feel free to keep in touch and reach out if you have any questions or want to chat alamin.ahamed@ mail.utoronto.ca.

Signing off,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Translation Committee for their endless efforts in helping maintain bilingualism through this

Al-amin Ahamed CAPSIL Editor

President’s Address

CHRISTINE VACCARO

Heyo CAPSI members and supporters!

Welcome to the Spring CAPSIL and congratulations on completing the school year! To the Class of 2023, we did it!!! Congratulations and welcome to the profession!

Within these pages are stories from your peers and highlights of what CAPSI has been up to since winter! Thank you to all of you who have submitted articles and student features for this edition of the CAPSIL. Of course, it goes without saying that the CAPSIL would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our tremendous CAPSIL Editor, Al-amin Ahamed and the translation committee.

The Spring edition of the CAPSIL marks the end of our CAPSI National council year. Your 2022-2023 council, composed of 36 pharmacy students and pharmacists, worked together to strengthen our association allowing for CAPSI to better provide for our members. I’m incredibly proud of the work we accomplished, and wanted to share a few highlights of our year:

1) CAPSI National established a Community Fund . This fund will be available to pharmacy students who demonstrate financial need and leadership. More details will be shared next academic year, stay tuned!.

2) Many in-person activities

returned for the first time since COVID-19, including Professional Development Week (PDW) 2023 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and CAPSI competitions!

3) Each school successfully hosted an in-person P harmacy Appreciation Month (PAM) , allowing students and the greater community an opportunity to celebrate the power of pharmacy.

4) CAPSI National’s Advocacy and Student Wellness Committees have had great success across Canada in advocating for school specific mental health recommendations and improved policies surrounding bereavement days.

5) CAPSI National successfully ran our largest mentorship program to date, allowing more students to receive meaningful mentorship from peers and pharmacists across Canada!

6) CAPSI National’s Advocacy Committee has been working closely with CPhA to advocate for pharmacy school to be included in the Student Loan Forgiveness program .

7) CAPSI National successfully advocated for additional inperson MCQ spots to be added in Winnipeg for the May 2023 PEBC exam.

8) CAPSI National has several new membership benefits which can be accessed in our new CAPSI members corner !

9) CAPSI National strengthened our relationships with both current and new partners and pharmacy associations (including AFPC, CCCEP, CPhA, CSHP, IPPC, NPAC, and NAPRA), allowing us to better represent and advocate for our members across Canada.

pharmacy conferences, and it was my favourite part of this role. In a year where CAPSI’s operations have transitioned back to in-person, thank you for your continued support and patience. CAPSI’s strength is because of you. School passes by quickly - I hope that you are able to make the most out of it and find your passion in pharmacy. Now, at the end of my PharmD, I echo the words of previous grads, the experiences and connections you form in the hallways and through CAPSI are > to the knowledge you gain in class. CAPSI will continue to grow and thrive under the phenomenal leadership of my friend and fellow Manitoban, Madison Wong. The 2023-2024 council will officially start in June, during the AFPC conference in Winnipeg. Until then, know that you can always connect with us through email (Madison at pres@capsi.ca or myself at pastpres@capsi.ca) if you would ever like to talk, share comments or concerns, or learn more about CAPSI National. Have a lovely summer!

As this is my last Presidential address, I would like to take a moment to thank you. This year I’ve had an opportunity to connect with many of you, virtually or at one of this year’s

Take it easy,

Christine Vaccaro National President

PDW 2023 Research Poster Abstract

Title: Characterization of Patients Developing Venous Thromboembolism while admitted to the Dubé Centre for Mental Health

Authors: Ryan Chan, Dr. Emma Hamid BSc MD, Dr. Thuy Le PhD, Dr. Mariam Alaverdashvili PhD, Dr. Annabelle Wanson MD FRCPC, Dr. Katelyn Halpape BSP ACPR PharmD BCPP University of Saskatchewan, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition University of Saskatchewan, College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry

Bac kground: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common source of preventable morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. The incidence of VTE in psychiatric inpatients ranges between 2-25%. Within the past 15 years, the Dubé Centre for Mental Health (DCMH) clinical team has identified an ongoing trend of patients developing acute VTE requiring urgent intervention during admission.

Objective: This study aims to identify risk factors associated with VTE development in psychiatric inpatients which will inform the development of a VTE prophylaxis risk stratification tool.

Methods: A retrospective case-control chart review of patients admitted to DCMH from January 2007 to December 2021. Cases were identified through the inpatient hospital pharmacy software by screening for individuals aged 18 and older who received anticoagulation. Cases were initially screened to select patients who received anticoagulation for VTE treatment. Controls were randomly selected from the pool of patients with a discharge diagnosis other than VTE. The data was extracted by a co-investigator and coded for statistical analysis.

Future Direction (ongoing): A co-investigator will perform descriptive and comparative statistical analysis. The analyzed results will be summarized and ultimately aid in the development of a risk stratification tool.

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March 2023 marked the first fully in-person PAM since the beginning of the pandemic. When my coPAM chair, Bhawani, and I set out on planning this month we were both excited and also nervous as we have so far experienced most school events virtually. However, we knew that many students were looking forward to this PAM so we knew that we had to make it special.

Our planning started out with our theme. This year our theme was “Moving Forward.” It encompassed everything that has been happening for the pharmacy profession over the past year, particularly in Ontario. Pharmacists have spent the last few years helping patients through the pandemic by keeping doors open, helping curb the spread of COVID through testing and vaccinations, and they have also been advocating for increased scope so as to better serve their community as well as take some of the pressures off of the healthcare system. Now that COVID cases are starting to come down, pharmacists are looking forward to continue to improve the health and well being of their patients. It first

started with getting the authority to prescribe Paxlovid and since January 1st 2023, pharmacists in Ontario are now finally able to prescribe for 13 minor ailments, with 6 more to be approved in the fall time. “Moving Forward” was the perfect way to describe what pharmacists have been continuing to do and thus we centered many of our events around this theme.

The next task on our PAM planning list was formulating the PAM planning committee to help us create an amazing PAM. In addition to our Senior and Junior Reps, Camille and Steph, we also had Victoria Nguyen, Anna Lee, Brooke Bouchard, Chiquitah Paul, Connie Drake, Tiffany Lin, Selina Cao, Parsa Ali, Sapna Tripathi and Sarah Fallis (our PAM 2022 chair) on our team. We couldn’t have put all of this together without our team and we are immensely grateful for all of your hard work in putting PAM 2023 together!

We first started with our PAM Kickoff Event on March 1st. Students had the opportunity to pick up some baked goods, take photos with our PAM balloons and listen to speeches. We were fortunate to have Dr. Andrea Edginton, our dean, as well as Jennifer Deschenes and Arthur Catapano, representatives from OPA, speak at our event. Their speeches inspired our students to continue to shape the pharmacy profession into the future.

Our first Saturday of PAM, Bhawani and I, along with our junior rep, Steph, and our UW students Brooke Bouchard, Avery Brown and Parsa Ali took over Conestoga Mall to do a PAM showcase. The Conestoga Mall showcase was previously a UW PAM staple however due to the pandemic it was put on hold. We handed out student-designed pamphlets that

VICTORIA MIKHNOVSKAYA

showcased what pharmacists can do for their patients’ health as well as snack-size fruit snacks and pens. We interacted with over 100 people passing by and we hope we inspired them to develop a larger professional relationship with their pharmacist.

healthcare professionals from other universities work together to solve cases. We want to give a big thank you to OPhIG who worked with us on this event, as well as a thank you to our panelists, Mark Pasetka (pharmacist), Tom McFarlane (pharmacist), Dr. Anna Spreafico (medical oncologist), Rachel Reed (dietician), and Raquel Watkins (social worker).

to discuss PAM. We were immensely grateful for the opportunity and for the staff of CTV for making us feel comfortable despite this being our first time on television!

We also had the opportunity throughout the month to collaborate with other pharmacy clubs to strengthen UW CAPSI’s ties with other students. Firstly, we hosted a French Jeopardy Night with Francopharm Club, where students used their French knowledge to figure out what the french medical term was in english. We hope that students were able to expand their French skills in order to better assist their Francophone patients in the future. Secondly we hosted an interprofessional collaboration event with Oncology Pharmacy Interest Group (OPhIG) on the topic of oropharyngeal cancers. We had pharmacy students as well as other

In the same spirit of collaboration, we also had the opportunity to collaborate with UofT CAPSI for our second interprofessional collaboration event, this time on bipolar disorder. This was an amazing mega-collaboration event and we had students from all across the province join us to discuss how we can work together to help our patients who live with bipolar disorder. We want to especially thank Theodora Udounwa, Ayman Lakhani, Alyssa Matsumura, Lina Lo, Belinda Xu, Kondrad Samsel, Nathan Best and Yeasmin Sultana Begum from UofT for helping us work on this event. As well, we would like to thank Rosa Chen and Cassandra Van Drunen from UW for helping us with reaching out to other schools and for overall creating this event. In order to reach out to the community and better advocate for the profession, Bhawani and I continued a long tradition of appearing on CTV News Kitchener

The same day as our interview was also International Women’s Day. This year, we asked female leaders across various pharmacy paths to share with us any advice they had for future leaders. Big thank you to our pharmacy leader participants: Pavithra Ravi, Barb Coulston, Kaitlin Bynkoski, Cheyenne Matinnia, Certina Ho, Sascha Dreger, MinhHien Le and Angela Puim. Thank you to Camille Huo for editing the video!

One way that we believe we can move the pharmacy profession forward is to continue to provide culturally sensitive care to all of our patients. In particular, Indigenous peoples continue to receive lower quality care and thus poorer health outcomes than other patient populations and thus we believe that we must continue to hear from the Indigenous community to better improve our future practice to help close the gap. Dr. Gezina Baehr, an indigenous pharmacy graduate and advocacy leader graciously agreed to present on a topic of her expertise; Trauma-Informed Care for our students. This was an incredibly important presentation

that we believe a lot of students were able to learn and improve their perspective. We hope to continue to host Indigenous speakers at the UW School of Pharmacy to teach our students thought patterns, how to avoid practice traps and provided actionable items that with the goal to make healthcare feel more accessible and safer for Indigenous patients.

In our third week of PAM, we were happy to host one of CAPSI National’s newest sponsors, Immunize.io, to give a talk about the importance of improving health literacy when it comes to vaccinations and how we can improve vaccination rates in our community for all vaccines including pneumococcal and shingles vaccines. This was a very informative talk and we are immensely grateful to Immunize.io for providing this presentation.

Another way that we wanted to celebrate “Moving Forward” was through a discussion about the recent implementation of minor ailments prescribing. We hosted a panelist-style event which featured community pharmacists, Allison Tario, Deanna Kang and Michele Kacori as well as OPA representative Angeline Ng, to discuss the recent implementation and what they have experienced and learned so far. It was an amazing discussion where the panelists described with great detail how the implementation has been going which allowed our students to have insight for their future co-ops, rotations and jobs. A tradition that returned for PAM 2023 was the elementary and high school presentations. Volunteers from our school had the opportunity to present to young students on topics ranging from learning about what medications are to allergies to COVID vaccines. We had another successful year and seeing some adorable kids was the cherry on top! A pilot project that was done this year was to have the young students write wellness cards for our pharmacy students to inspire them right before their final exams. I’m sure all of our UW students will greatly appreciate those messages as they study and get prepared to ace their exams! Thank you to Avery Brown, Kia Moazzami and Victoria Nguyen for working on this great yearly initiative. As well,

shout out to RxPRN and Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (PPAG) for collaborating with CAPSI this year. We also had our yearly Evidence Based Medicine Competition during PAM. This was our first in-person EBM competition since the start of the pandemic and all groups did an amazing job. Students used their drug information skills well to solve a few cases and we are so excited to find out who the winners are! Thank you to Jackie Nguyen, Denisse Eubion and Kristy Wong for organizing this great competition. Not only did we have great in-person events, our social media was very active as well. March 21 is Down Syndrome Day to honor the fact that down syndrome occurs due to Trisomy 21. We asked UW students to celebrate the day by wearing mismatched or colorful socks, and they delivered! Thank you so much to all who participated! This PAM was one for the books and we couldn’t have done it without all the amazing people mentioned above. We also want to thank OPA, Pharmasave and UW Student Success Fund for sponsoring our PAM and we hope that you continue to support CAPSI for years to come. With PAM 2023 wrapping up, we are now looking forward to PAM 2024! We are happy to announce that Chiquitah Paul and Victoria MacDonald will be the PAM 2024 co-chairs and we can’t wait to see what they will do.

Biologic treatments are a type of therapy that utilize the immune system to fight cancer and other diseases. These treatments work by stimulating or enhancing the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack abnormal cells in the body, including cancer cells. Biologics are drugs derived from living organisms and work by targeting specific molecules in the body that are involved in the immune response. Some biologics work by blocking particular molecules that help cancer cells grow, while others enhance the immune system’s ability to attack cancer cells. Examples of some biologics used in cancer treatment include checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy, and monoclonal antibodies.

Checkpoint Inhibitors:

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are medications that obstruct immune checkpoints, which are a natural component of the immune system that prevents overactive immune responses. By inhibiting them, these drugs enable immune cells to attack cancer cells more effectively. Common checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatment include pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and atezolizumab.

CAR-T Cell Therapy:

CAR-T cell therapy is a type of biologic that involves taking a patient’s T cells and modifying them in the laboratory to recognize better and attack cancer cells. Once the modified T cells are reintroduced into the patient’s body,

Hometown: Regina, SK

Year of Study: 3

Kiara Smith

Hometown: Lethbridge, Alberta

Year of Study: Year 2

Pets: I have foster cats so the number and names of the kitties I have are constantly changing but right now I have two brown tabby cats named Alvina and Jayne!

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I have finished my grade 10 violin performance exam through the Royal Conservatory of Music

b) I am training for a 10km run this summer

c) The most cats I have ever had at one time is 6

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?:

When I am not studying I enjoy playing violin with the University of Saskatchewan strings ensemble, baking, playing with my kitties, making homemade soap, and knitting. As we all do I often feel busy with school but I try really hard not to let my hobbies take a back burner. If I am not at work I will spend my Saturday morning doing something I enjoy. I also find I do well when I can create a structure for myself which is what makes strings ensemble so great, I have to show up on Wednesday night no matter how busy I am!

Favourite Food: I love all kinds of white carbs, especially pasta!

Favourite Smell: Clean Laundry

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: I enjoy mental health pharmacy so if I could go into another career I would probably choose mental health and addictions counseling!

Keri Panchuk

Pets: I don’t have any pets currently, but I did have a blue budgie bird named Honey growing up!

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I’ve met Queen Elizabeth II

b) I’m allergic to carrots

c) I can’t swim

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?: I enjoy playing the trumpet, piano, and french horn. I started playing these instruments when I was around 10 years old, so music has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember! I used to play the trumpet with a variety of ensembles such as the University of Saskatchewan Wind Orchestra, but I currently play with the Saskatoon Brass Band. I find that music is a fun way to de-stress, and it makes a great study break!

Favourite Food: Anything made by my mom!

Favourite Smell: Freshly brewed coffee

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: I would love to be a professional musician and to play trumpet with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and ensembles!

LIE: B

Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta

Year of Study: Third Year

Pets: No pets :(

Two-Truths and a Lie:

Naomi Lozinski

Hometown: Edmonton

Year of Study: Third year

Pets: Bear

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I have a tattoo

b) I have never broken a bone

c) I have dual citizenship in the United States

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?:

I am a quite active individual and enjoy hiking, going to the gym or spin class, playing hockey, and taking my pup for a walk! I also enjoy binge-watching TV shows and movies, trying out new restaurants and recipes, and reading a good book (please let me know if you have any recommendations). I like to travel and hope to get more opportunities since we are no longer in a pandemic! School can get quite busy and it is important to prioritize your well being by putting some time aside for yourself in your day-to-day life by either doing something you love or spending time with loved ones.

Favourite Food: Pierogi

Favourite Smell: Brewed coffee or a campfire

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: Travel blogger

Alyna Datoo

a) I have ran a marathon before

b) I don’t know how to wink

c) I am allergic to penicillin

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?: This year I have really loved attending spin classes, going on walks, and was convinced to try bouldering (even though I’m terrified of heights). A few of my other hobbies include reading, binge watching the latest netflix series, and of course sacrificing my sleep by watching some late night tik-toks. Pharmacy is a very academically rigorous program, and it is so important to find a healthy balance between studying, your own personal self-care, extracurriculars, your social life, etc. A few strategies that have helped me find that balance include: attending lectures in-person (as much as I would love to sleep in), planning my week out in advance, taking time to unwind every night, and remembering that your grades don’t define your worth, at the end of the day, we’re all going to become amazing pharmacists regardless if we got that A+ or not.

Favourite Food: Any form of pasta

Favourite Smell: Mahogany Coconut (shoutout bath and bodyworks)

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: If I could be anything in the world other than a pharmacist, my dream career would be to work for an animal welfare organization!

LIE: C

Caitlyn Coles

Hometown: Conception Bay South, Newfoundland

Year of Study: 4

Pets: I don’t have any because of my allergies :(

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I had a cat named Leo when I was a kid, which is how my parents discovered I had allergies

b) I have an identical twin sister who is a pediatric nurse

c) I am bilingual in French

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?:

My hobbies include baking, doing yoga, walking trails, chasing sunsets, watching Grey’s Anatomy, reading, and spending time with friends. I make time for hobbies during pharmacy school by planning at least one fun outing for each weekend.

Favourite Food: Pizza

Favourite Smell: Cinnamon Spiced Vanilla

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: Photographer

LIE: A

Micah Elisha Herrera

Hometown: Winnipeg

Year of Study: 2

Pets: I don’t actually own a pet but I am a casual parent to my boyfriends dog. His name is Ace!

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I’m obsessed with sanrio characters

b) I’m half filipino

c) I hate cardio

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?:

I enjoy working out! Even when school gets busy, I find that an hour or two in the gym 3-5 times a week makes me feel much more motivated to be productive! I also love to doll myself up, especially for pictures on the gram.

Favourite Food: Any asian dish

Favourite Smell: Mon paris

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: I’ve always enjoyed decorating and making my room more aesthetically pleasing. So if I wasn’t pursuing pharmacy, I would probably do something related to interior design.

LIE: B Hometown: Fraser Lake, BC

Year of Study: Second year

MarieAlyssaD’Eon

Pets: Toby, Mochi, Lady and Teddy (yes, yes I have 4 dogs. If you zoom call me, you’d think I live in a zoo)

Two-Truths and a Lie:

a) I have lepidopterophobia - fear of butterflies

b) Growing up, I always wanted to be an elementary school teacher

c) I plan to move back home to practice in BC

What are some hobbies of yours and how do you make time for them?: I love to paint or play cozy games. I believe having a creative outlet is extremely important to regulating stress as a student. When studying, I make sure to give myself frequent breaks and partake in hobbies at that time.

Favourite Food: pad thai!

Favourite Smell: Coffee brewing in the morning - bonus if it is also raining

If you could be anything in the world (other than a pharmacist), what would be your dream career?: Before attending Acadia for biology, I had been enrolled in business. I would like to think if I wasn’t a pharmacist I would be running a photography business specializing in wedding photography.

LIE: C

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— Christine (PharmD Student)