Reflecting on Pharmacy Appreciation Month (PAM) 2024

March is an exciting time for pharmacy professionals as we come together to celebrate Pharmacy Appreciation Month (PAM). Countless clubs at the faculty led by the Undergraduate Pharmacy Society (UPS) rose to the occasion to provide pharmacy students with a month-long line-up of exciting events. The Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students & Interns (CAPSI) U of T team fondly reflects on this year's in-person celebrations.

PAM 2024 started strong with UPS and CAPSI collaborating to host “Wake Up to PAMCakes!” Students and faculty had the opportunity to kickstart PAM in-person and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast, took pictures with our famous Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy backdrop, and had the chance to share why they chose pharmacy on our “Why Pharmacy?” mural board. Students remarked that the event made them feel appreciated and was an apt start to a month of festivities!

Every year, CAPSI hosts various PAM events including Kids in Medicine (KIM), Pharmacy Outreach Days (PODs), an IPE Event, Toronto’s Next’s Top Pharmacist (TNTP), and IPSF initiatives. Each CAPSI initiative is overseen by a duo on our local CAPSI council.

Takeover Tuesdays

This year, we re-formatted Kids in Medicine and opted for a month-long initiative in collaboration with U of T’s Pre-Pharmacy Student Association. Termed “Takeover Tuesdays”, Ayman Lakhani, Meriam Salih, Victoria Jamieson and Elina Kim shared their day-to-day activities and answered the questions of students hoping to enter pharmacy. Special shout-outs are in order for students Hamza Farah, Kalid Ibsa and Mackenzie Richardson, pharmacist Shams Qaend, and our Program Director, Dr. Natalie Crown, for making cameos to answer undergraduate students’ burning questions as they prepared for their upcoming pharmacy interviews. The Instagram series was broadcast live to the pre-pharmacy group’s over 200 followers, and received great engagement! The series concluded with a final takeover by Elina as she brought prospective pharmacy students along to witness the 2T7 Induction Ceremony.

Pharmacy Outreach Days

Pharmacy Outreach Days provide an exciting opportunity for students to connect with patients in a local community pharmacy and provide information on a relevant topic. This year's topic centered around blood pressure management. Our subcommittee headed by our 2T5 representatives Zahra Quidwai and Christina Kang came together to make an eye-catching and informative poster to help engage passers-by in conversation about their health.

Interprofessional Education Panel on Insomnia

The 2T6 CAPSI Representatives, Lara Ali and Samir Kanji, led the planning of this year’s mega IPE Event on insomnia. Around 96 students from several healthcare programs in Ontario were in attendance. Healthcare students learned more about the roles played by providers outside their fields in caring for patients with insomnia. Guest speakers included pharmacists Vinita Arora, Ashlee Brunt and Sadaf Faisal, and social worker Mary Dixon-Bourque. Along with presentations, this event also featured a video captured by U of T’s IPE subcommittee illustrating the patient case of interest. Planning this event involved collaboration with the U of T Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education (CACHE) and CAPSI University of Waterloo to recruit 14 student facilitators to lead the night’s discussions. Thank you to our IPE Subcommittee members Sanaz Karimi, Cloé Lafleur, Victoria Jamieson and Elin Foulds for your efforts in making this event a success!

Educational Symposium

As always, CAPSI strives to provide students opportunities to enhance their clinical skills. Unique to this year, our CAPSI Junior Representative Meriam Salih hosted an informational symposium on the topic of how to discuss weight to optimize medication treatment. Our speaker for the event was University of Toronto alumnus, Dr. Nabeel Effendi, who provided an informative and interactive presentation to our group of 14 students outlining key applicable skills that can be applied to their upcoming EPE and APPE rotations.

Toronto’s Next Top Pharmacist

Themed “Immune Cells”, CAPSI’s Toronto’s Next Top Pharmacist (TNTP) 2024 was a fun way to end off an exciting PAM! Four contestants showcased their unique talents and amazing catwalks: Victoria Jamieson, Kayleigh Melcher, Maya Crews and Victoria Doan. All the contestants put on a great performance with their classy showmanship. Event judges Dr. David Dubins, Dr. Jaris Swidrovich, Professor Andrea Swanson and Dr. Cheyenne Matinnia had a tough time crowning the TNTP 2024 winner. After tallying the points, Victoria Jamieson seized the TNTP crown and will be representing University of Toronto at Canada’s Next Top Pharmacist happening at Professional Development Week (PDW) 2025, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. On behalf of the winner, CAPSI U of T will be providing a donation of $150 to Epilepsy Canada. This charity was selected by Victoria as the event was hosted on World Epilepsy Day. Thank you to 2T7 CAPSI Representatives, Anica Shafiq and Ayesha Ahmad, for organizing TNTP 2024 and being first-class MCs and performers.

IPSF Initiatives

In line with their health campaign topic of the year themed “Healthy Living and Diabetes”, IPSF Senior and Junior Representatives Sasha Mohindra and Jason Jian continued to fundraise for Diabetes Canada throughout PAM. The duo hosted a game booth, sticker sale, and a raffle to fundraise for the organization. One of the games, “match the sugar content to the beverage”, was an immense hit amongst students. With the highest score only being 6 out of 10, students reflected on the sugar content of their favourite drinks and were inspired to opt for healthier choices! In case you missed it during PAM, IPSF U of T continues to fundraise for Diabetes Canada until April 12, 2024. Visit IPSF U of T on Instagram for more information on their ongoing sticker sale and raffle.

Thank you to all our subcommittee members for your tireless efforts in seeing to the success of this year’s initiatives. In addition, thank you to UPS Marketing Directors Nuzat Karim and Kelly Chiu who worked hard to create CAPSI U of T’s promotional materials for PAM and TNTP.

Lastly, thank you to all the club executives who worked diligently to plan and host PAM events. Your efforts to enrich the pharmacy student experience during PAM and beyond do not go unnoticed! CAPSI could not have hosted such a successful PAM without your contributions.

Once again, wishing everyone a “Happy PAM!” and we look forward to PAM 2025!

CAPSI UofT 2023-2024 Council

Ayman Lakhani - CAPSI Senior Representative
Sasha Mohindra - IPSF Senior Representative
Meriam Salih - CAPSI Junior Representative
Jason Jian - IPSF Junior Representative
Zahra Quidwai - 2T5 Representative
Christina Kang - 2T5 Representative
Lara Ali - 2T6 Representative
Samir Kanji - 2T6 Representative
Anica Shafiq - 2T7 Representative
Ayesha Ahmad - 2T7 Representative

PAM Subcommittees

KIM: Christina Kang, Zahra Quidwai, Hamza Farah, Jessica Obiako, Ashish Gante, Elina Kim, Sarah Reicher, Victoria Jamieson, Ayman Lakhani, Meriam Salih

PODs: Christina Kang, Zahra Quidwai, Sarah Reicher, Christine Nguyen, Sohila Elgedawi, Ayman Lakhani, Meriam Salih

IPE: Lara Ali, Samir Kanji, Sanaz Karimi, Cloé Lafleur, Elin Foulds, Victoria Jamieson, Ayman Lakhani, Meriam Salih

TNTP: Anica Shafiq, Ayesha Ahmad, Varun Gupta, Ayman Lakhani, Meriam Salih

IPSF: Sasha Mohindra, Jason Jian, Elina Kim, Lara Ali