PharmD student gains real-world primary care experience through advanced practice courses

Iman Abdulhadi, a fourth-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) student at U of T’s Leslie Dan Faculty, was inspired to pursue pharmacy to provide care and build lasting relationships with patients. Now in her fourth year of the program, she is gaining valuable practical experience through a series of rotations at practices in Toronto’s east end, helping her explore potential career opportunities in pharmacy.

“I'm excited to explore different roles and keep an open mind for each placement that I'm in,” she says. “These experiences will help me figure out what kind of pharmacist I want to be.”

Since starting the PharmD program in 2021, Abdulhadi has enjoyed the academic and social opportunities at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

She says that one of the highlights so far has been participating in the Black Pharmacy Students Association (BPSA), first serving as events director and then president for two years.

“These experiences will help me figure out what kind of pharmacist I want to be.”

“Being involved with the BPSA was probably the best thing I did as a student here,” she says. “It helped me become a part of the community of like-minded students and build something that is continuing to grow.”

Another highlight of the program has been the opportunity to practice applying patient care skills and clinical knowledge to direct patient care through courses such as Medication Therapy Management. She’s excited to gain even more experience with this through her advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) rotations.

In May, Abdulhadi started her first APPE rotation at a busy community pharmacy in Toronto’s east end, for which she received an honours grade. She says that at first, she was intimidated by the busy practice, but she quickly learned to adapt and enjoyed the experience.

“Each week I learned something new. I got to interact with patients, learn a lot and put all of the knowledge that I've learned to work. I saw a really big improvement in myself from the beginning to end,” she says. “For students who haven’t had this experience yet, don’t be scared of the rotation because the growth you experience is huge from just being there every day.”

Rotations provide experience in collaboration on primary care teams

Abdulhadi is now completing rotations at three centres in Toronto East: Michael Garron Hospital, the Southeast Toronto Family Health Team and Health Access Thorncliffe Park Clinic. This experiential course is part of a pilot project in Toronto East co-developed by Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Michael Garron hospital. It gives the opportunity for PharmD students to concentrate a portion of their APPE year within a specific geographical area, which enhances their understanding of the local health system, including care models and the community health needs.

“One of the goals of this partnership is to create new experiential course opportunities that benefits both our students and our experiential partners,” says Natalie Crown, Director of the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) Program. “It gives students an opportunity to be immersed within a specific community, learn about that community’s health needs, populations served and the health care providers and models of care in that network. It also helps with recruitment of future pharmacists who have spent an extensive portion of their training in their community.”

With two of the rotations in primary care, Abdulhadi is gaining important exposure to the pharmacist’s role within a primary care team. And in a program first, one of her preceptors at the family health team is a physician, not a pharmacist, giving her a different perspective on how physicians and pharmacists can work together.

“I’m learning a lot about what physicians do in primary care, and the opportunities for pharmacists to be integrated within a family health team.”

“It's really interesting to see how physicians assess patients, and how they use their own thought process before they write the prescription,” she says. “I’m learning a lot about what physicians do in primary care, and the opportunities for pharmacists to be integrated within a family health team.”

Though Abdulhadi expects the rotations to be challenging, she says that her education at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy so far has prepared her well for undertaking these roles, particularly learning to navigate resources and find reliable information quickly.

As new students in the PharmD program may be thinking ahead to the type of practice they may want to undertake, Abdulhadi advises them to keep an open mind about what they expect from their pharmacy practice to get the most from their educational experience.

“Try to take opportunities in any kind of practice, even if you think you might not want to go in that direction,” she says. “This is the best time to get those different experiences; then you can form your own opinion of what you think would be best for yourself.”