The Journey to Professional Development Week (PDW) 2024

Now that Professional Development Week (PDW) is behind us, as co-chairs, would like to take a moment to appreciate the committee that made this conference possible.

Fourteen months ago, 12 pharmacy students (and two local CAPSI reps) took on a position that was new, daunting, and an immense amount of work. Theoretically, we all “knew” what we were signing up for, but practically, none of us could predict all of the situations we would encounter.

PDW is a four-day conference that takes place every January and is hosted by one of the pharmacy schools across Canada. It includes the national levels of competitions hosted locally, sessions given by some of the brightest minds in pharmacy, an exhibition filled with pharmaceutical companies and organizations of every kind, and unforgettable social events like galas and the beloved Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist. PDW2024 was hosted by the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the Sheraton Hotel and welcomed 400 students, faculty, sponsors, and speakers from across Canada.

And, if you’re wondering how one plans a large-scale conference, you’re in luck! Here’s a timeline of what our last year has looked like:

Summer 2022: Will there be a conference?

There was a point in time when PDW2024 was not even a certainty. Due to COVID, it was unknown whether or not this conference would take place at all. So, the timeline for planning was extremely tight. Typically organizers have two years to plan the conference, but we only had one!

November 2022: Where, and with what funds?

The co-chairs were selected thanks to the CAPSI reps at the time, Theodora Udounwa and Ayman Lakhani, and a whirlwind of excitement commenced. In a night and a day we have to become expert event planners, negotiating contracts with hotels and figuring out where to hold the conference and how to put down an initial payment.

Our finance officer, Jasamrit Kaur, was central in helping us secure the Sheraton Hotel and she was essential in drafting and managing our budget and bank account all throughout the planning process. Her diligence and commitment are truly what made the conference viable!

January 2023: The work begins!

Once the new year rolled around and PDW 2023 was complete, we could begin contacting sponsors and speakers. Our health fair and sponsorship officers, Lina Yacoub and Sheena Ye, worked tirelessly to find companies that were willing to generously sponsor the event and make it a reality.

While we hunted for sponsors, our education officer, Emily Crosier, was gathering a group of esteemed individuals and leaders in the pharmacy profession, who were willing to share their knowledge and experiences with the delegates of PDW. With great enthusiasm, she selected some of the most interesting and promising voices in pharmacy: people with incredible stories and innovative ways of problem-solving that were fascinating to listen to. Her dedication made for incredible sessions and keynotes.

Of course, having sponsors and speakers does little good if no one knows about them. Risansha Chhabra and Negar Shavandi, our marketing officers, put together the website and made promotional posts for our social media account to share information about the conference. This, all in addition to their constant engagement throughout the conference, capturing the memories that were being made every day!

Thanks to our translation officer Hwiyeon Kim, all of the content provided at the conference and social media was translated into French to accommodate the French-speaking schools: making the sessions held throughout the conference accessible to these students. Hosting a national conference truly highlights the need for bilingual skill, which Hwiyeon certainly demonstrated – often having to translate content to be published in just a few hours!

As mentioned, one of the biggest parts of PDW is hosting the national/final level of competitions that begin in each school locally. The planning for these competitions requires an immense amount of work and organization which Lina Lo excelled in. From organizing materials to recruiting and orienting standardized patients and judges, she worked hard to ensure that these competitions ran as smoothly as possible.

A national conference naturally means that people are coming into Toronto by planes, trains, and cars. Without our logistics officer, Cassandra Elias, organizing transportation and transport discounts for our delegates, this would have been a much more difficult (and expensive!) feat. Additionally, Cassandra secured our A/V company after several price negotiations and worked with our education and social events officers, Emily and Meriam, to ensure our events were provided for.

If you’ve seen footage of PDW, however, it was almost definitely from one of our social events. From a creative opening gala to a festive closing one, our social events officer Meriam Salih planned the parts of the conference that allowed students to have fun and get to know the each other. She planned an fun and memorable Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist contest – a competition all pharmacy students look forward to every PDW.

“We all Rose to a Challenge in ways I don’t even think we expected of ourselves.”

December 2023: The final countdown

2023 was our planning year and it had no shortage of concerns throughout with negotiations at every turn. We all Rose to a Challenge in ways I don’t even think we expected of ourselves.

As co-chairs we constantly supported the committee all throughout the process: checking in to see where help was needed, sitting in on meetings with sponsors, or speakers, or A/V to answer questions, coordinating all the hotel details and accommodations, reporting to CAPSI national about the planning process and above all: learning what it means to lead while allowing people the space to also take charge. We also had the invaluable support of Ayman Lakhani, our CAPSI liaison. Thanks to her, we had extra support from someone on the CAPSI National Committee. She was our direct contact between the committee and CAPSI National, and she helped communicate on behalf of the planning committee.

After dedicating so much of our time to PDW over the past year, no one could truly believe how close the conference was. Yet now was absolutely not the time to rest. The moment our exams wrapped up, we were at the Sheraton to visit the site of our conference and meet with the hotel managers. Every moment of our break was used to address all the last-minute details that were bound to come up and get ready for the real deal.

January 2024: Showtime!

And at last, the event we had all saved in our calendars finally rolled around. After a complete run-through of the event from beginning to end, packing hundreds of goodie bags, and getting them to the hotel, PDW2024 had begun. Throughout the conference, our committee worked tirelessly to ensure the event ran smoothly, problem-solved the issues that came up, and truly came together as one team to complete this conference.

“Students are in the perfect place to bring fresh ideas and innovation to our profession.”

It is evident that planning this conference was no easy task, but with a group of intelligent and devoted women on the planning committee, the event became a reality. And it was a success! We are so honoured to have received many congratulations and sentiments of gratitude, in person and online, from sponsors, speakers, and students. We will leave you with one of our favourites from Dr. Cheyenne Matinnia, a pediatric pharmacist at SickKids and graduate student at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

“Students are in the perfect place to bring fresh ideas and innovation to our profession. Their value is crucial to the longevity of our profession – simply by being themselves and bringing their curiosity to our work and systems. Students, never let anyone make your ideas feel small or place limits on your possibilities. Writing this keynote taught me a lot about myself as a forever learner. Thank you to PDW for the opportunity and platform to engage with students on this level. None of this would have been possible without the incredible PDW planning committee.”