Creating pharmacists of tomorrow
St. Joseph’s Health Care London has launched a unique training program for pharmacists focused on chronic disease care - a growing need with a rapidly rising patient population.
London, Ontario - As the complexity of chronic diseases evolve – and rates rise in Canada – St. Joseph’s Health Care London (St. Joseph’s) is helping to create a new generation of pharmacists with expertise in outpatient care of a rapidly growing patient population.
St. Joseph’s has launched a residency program for pharmacists focused on outpatient chronic disease management and the critical role of pharmacists in providing wholistic care to patients. The intensive, one-year program for new pharmacy graduates is one of few in Canada providing hands-on training in team-based, outpatient hospital care for chronic diseases and conditions. With placements at all five St. Joseph’s sites and in a variety of clinical settings, the pharmacy resident will complete training within the Pain Management Program, Rheumatology Centre, Palliative Care Unit, Rehabilitation Program, Mental Health Care Program, and the organization’s outpatient community pharmacy, with electives available in forensic mental health care and other specialties.
Particularly unique is what the pharmacy resident will learn about the connection between chronic disease, mental health and rehabilitation, establishing trusting relationships with patients, and the integral role of pharmacists as part of a broad team of health care professionals, explains Denise Kreutzwiser, a pharmacist with St. Joseph’s Pain Management Program who led the development of the pharmacy residency program.
“No other Canadian pharmacy residency program offers an intensive focus in interdisciplinary chronic pain management or rheumatology, addressing a critical need identified by national bodies of those specialties to better understand and serve those living with chronic pain or rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases,” says Denise.
With applicants applying from as far as Qatar and Australia, the successful inaugural pharmacy resident is Sumani Vij, a graduate of University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy, who was drawn to the ambulatory care focus at St. Joseph’s. Particularly intriguing, says the driven 25-year-old, “is the focus on chronic pain and mental health, how complex and intermingled they can be, and the pharmacist’s role in supporting patients and making sure they are being treated wholistically – from all angles and by multiple disciplines.”
While pharmacy rotations during the four years of pharmacy school are compulsory, a residency after graduating and passing the certification exams is voluntary, explains Denise. A residency is additional training that provides pharmacists with proficiency in a particular area. There are only 130 residency spots across Canada for year one pharmacy residents – predominantly in hospital acute care pharmacy. There are only a handful of ambulatory or chronic disease-based residency programs in the country.
As Sumani begins her learning journey at St. Joseph’s, she looks forward to gaining experience, confidence and knowledge that will shape her future career, and all the possibilities that loom.
“Within pharmacy there’s a whole world to explore and I want to see where I fit best,” says Sumani. “St. Joseph’s residency program is super well rounded and offers really unique electives. I’m excited by everything it offers. I want to learn and create a better version of myself.”
Read more about the new pharmacy residency program on St. Joseph’s website Sumani Vij and Denise Kreutzwiser are available for interviews on Thursday Oct. 26 between 9:30 am and 2 pm.
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Dahlia Reich, Communication Consultant
St. Joseph’s Health Care London
519 646-6100 ext. 65294, Cell: 519 619-0971
@email
About St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Renowned for compassionate care, St. Joseph’s Health Care London is a leading academic health care centre in Canada dedicated to helping people live to their fullest by minimizing the effects of injury, disease and disability through excellence in care, teaching and research. Through partnership with Lawson Health Research Institute and our collaborative engagement with other health care and academic partners, St. Joseph’s has become an international leader in the areas of chronic disease management; medical imaging; specialized mental health care; rehabilitation and specialized geriatrics; and surgery. St. Joseph’s operates through a wide range of hospital, clinic and long-term and community-based settings, including: St. Joseph’s Hospital; Parkwood Institute; Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care; and the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care. sjhc.london.on.ca.