The Wyeth Apothecary Award Winners
Recognizing Professional Achievement Through Advanced Learning
Dealing with diabetes
Que. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in diabetes
By Stéphanie Decelles
Patients suffering from diabetes near the two Pharmacies Guy Lemire, affiliated with Jean Coutu in Trois-Rivieres, will have a better comprehension of their disease—and better monitoring of their treatment—due to Chantal Morissette, a Quebec-based community pharmacist specializing in diabetes. Morissette's completion of advanced training in diabetes, combined with a personalized patient approach, has earned her the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Quebec.
In 2000, Morissette was one of three Quebec pharmacists to complete a Master’s degree in community pharmacy, twelve years after graduating from Université de Montréal with her Pharmacy degree. Her outstanding efforts while completing her Master’s degree earned her a bursary from the University Laval's Faculty of Pharmacy.
Upon graduation, Morissette developed an interest in diabetes. “Type 2 diabetes is really prevalent in our region,” says Morissette. “Patients with diabetes come to the pharmacy every day.” To provide better service to her patients, Morissette became an active member of the Professional council of the Diabetes Quebec Association and participated in its annual meetings, she also read articles about the topic and completed continuing education programs. Soon, she was giving seminars for patients with diabetes and providing private counseling to patients coming into her community pharmacy. As a complement to this work, she was also asked to write academic papers and magazine articles about this chronic disease that, according the Canadian Diabetes Association, affects two million Canadians.
Pharmacists and physicians recognize her knowledge of diabetes and don't hesitate in recommending her to their patients. “Often, when a patient has a more complex problem with their glycemia, they send them to me,” Morissette says.
In fact, according to Morissette, her most significant work is the daily counseling of patients coming to the laboratory. “The most important part is the followup with the nurse when patients come to the counter,” she says. “We make sure their glycemia is maintained, we solve problems such as hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, and we help reduce side effects such as gastrointestinal symptoms when using metformin. This is the most important part of my daily work.”
A quest for knowledge
Sask. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in geriatric pharmacy, diabetes, respiratory diseases and more
By Kristan Wolfe
It can be challenging for pharmacists to expand their scope of practice, according to Audrey McClelland, a pharmacist at Circle Centre Mall Safeway in Saskatoon, Sask., but the professional rewards are well worth the effort.
Her completion of advanced training in c hronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) education, geriatric pharmacy, asthma education, anticoagulation therapy management and diabetes education has earned McLelland the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Saskatchewan.
McLelland, one of only two Certified Geriatric Pharmacists in Saskatchewan, has used her many designations to enhance her practice in a variety of ways. In the treatment of diabetes, for instance, she offers education both in a one-one-on-one setting and in monthly workshops open to the general public. (She’s also a Certified Insulin Pump and Sensor Trainer.) Presently, she’s working with two other educators to develop a tool for diabetic patients who are at high risk for kidney disease. In aid of asthmatic patients, McLelland hosts education clinics and sits as President-elect for the Saskatchewan Lung Association.
“I have met many other [healthcare professionals ] with the same designations and of course this opens up doors for you,” says McLelland. For example, in 2006, McLelland was one of six Saskatchewan pharmacist s who tested an asthma screening tool developed in response to a Health Quality Council (HQC) report that found almost one in five asthma patients do not have good control of their condition. The screening tool included five questions intended to help initiate conversations with asthma patients. The questions cover frequency of inhaler use; instances of coughing, wheezing and tight chest symptoms in a week; and whether these symptoms prevent the patient from exercising or attending work or school.
But McLelland doesn’t stop there. When she’s not working with NAPRA revising its current Standards of Practice Model, she’s helping out at a diabetes camp though Camp Easter Seal. She’ll also be doing research on COPD management with the province’s Health Quality Council.
“Testing your knowledge is not such a bad thing,” says McClelland on taking advanced training, “You have to learn this specialty and learn it well.”
Reaching out through research
B.C. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced research
By Kristan Wolfe
Elaine Chong isn’t your typical pharmacist. She describes her career as “non-traditional” and says her focus on the “research” side of pharmacy allows her to reach out to patients on a broad scale.
Her completion of advanced training in health has earned Chong the Wyeth Apothecary Award for British Columbia.
Following graduation from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2000, Chong completed a hospital pharmacy residency at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. By 2003, she’d earned her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. All told, Chong spent eight uninterrupted years in university (five of undergraduate education, one of practical residency training, and two more of specialized postgraduate education.)
Armed with her PharmD, Chong began working as a clinical lead at a Toronto-based consulting company where she supervised a department of six writers, editors and pharmacists to coordinate the development of continuing health education, and to manage ongoing relations with selected clients—the majority of which were pharmaceutical companies.
She then decided to move onto a specialty in pharmacotherapy, believing it would give her insight as a clinician and researcher. From August 2004 to August 2007, Chong held a position at a Vancouver-based company where she oversaw daily operations related to all clinical service delivery aspects (including training, quality management and evaluation), and provided one-on-one clinical mentorship for an off-site cohort of more than 130 community retail pharmacists. She also participated in an interdisciplinary management team with nurses and other stakeholders to guide policy development.
During this time she attended several training programs, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Transdiciplinary Understanding and Training on Research in Primary Health Care (CIHR TUTOR-PHC) program from May 2005 through until April 2006, where she gained more experience networking with other disciplines in primary healthcare research. Additionally, she attended the CIHR 2006 Summer Institute, held at the University of Manitoba in June 2006. She was one of 30 healthcare researcher trainees selected from across Canada.
Specialty training, says Chong, “has opened a lot of doors for me professionally. I’ve been able to work in a lot of different kinds of settings and really expand the scope of my professional practice as a pharmacist. I think in that regard, it has allowed me a lot of different opportunities to see different avenues by which pharmacists can actually work in the healthcare system.”
As of September 2007, she had returned to full-time research in an academic environment. Today, Chong is a postdoctoral research fellow with the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at UBC.
Where the pet is the patient
P.E.I. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in veterinary pharmacy
By Kristan Wolfe
After working as a student in a community pharmacy setting, and then moving into hospital practice upon graduation, Kendra Day never imagined she’d end up with a patient base of pets, livestock and exotic animals later in her career. Day’s completion of advanced training in veterinary pharmacy has earned her the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Prince Edward Island.
In 1987—four years after the federal government and Atlantic provinces agreed to form a veterinary college in eastern Canada—Day was hired by the University of Prince Edward Island as a pharmacist in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Within the first few years of being hired, she was asked to audit pharmacology courses with the second year veterinary students. Following this, she audited large animal medicine, ophthalmology and neurology courses.
“Not only did this increase my knowledge base in topics not covered in any detail during my time in pharmacy school,” says Day, “but allowed me an insight into the way veterinary medicine is practiced.”
In 1988, she was invited to attend a meeting of the Society of Veterinary Hospital Pharmacists (SVHP). SVHP is a group of pharmacists who practice primarily in veterinary teaching hospitals. There, she says, “I found myself amongst a diverse group of experienced individuals and their meetings provided me with lots of great continuing education. But more than that, they provided me with ethical guidance and professional challenges. Their enthusiasm for the roles pharmacists could play in veterinary schools encouraged me to participate in many projects.”
By 2001, Day had become the first Canadian pharmacist certified in Veterinary Pharmacy through the International College of Veterinary Pharmacists and has since authored two modules used in the board certification program: one in ophthalmology, the other in aquaculture.
“This has certainly helped me in my day-to-day practice,” she says, “We frequently have a visiting ophthalmologist, and our school has a specialty in aquaculture. It has also helped me in dealing with students, interns, residents and faculty whose curiosity propels the learning process.”
Today, Day works with roughly 70 veterinarians and support staff at the university, providing inpatient and outpatient services to animals from across Atlantic Canada, including those seen as part of services delivered by ambulatory visits to farms and other sites where a variety of species are cared for.
Opening the door to opportunity
N.B. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in diabetes
By Kristan Wolfe
A desire to expand his role as a pharmacist inspired Rob Roscoe to enhance his knowledge of diabetes management, and resulted in him becoming one of his community’s greatest assets in the delivery of diabetes care.
His completion of advanced training to become a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) and successful expansion of his practice as a result, has earned Roscoe the Wyeth Apothecary Award for New Brunswick.
Roscoe, a pharmacist at Kennebecasis Drugs in Rothesay, New Brunswick, had been practicing for 20 years before deciding to take the CDE exam with the Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board. (He is also a Certified Insulin Pump and Sensor Trainer.)
“I had a strong interest in diabetes and kept running into the certification obstacle,” he says. “The ability to seamlessly help my patients with diabetes occurred once I had my CDE. Recognition by fellow health professionals, as well as patients, made the transition possible.”
And as he had hoped, certification brought new opportunities to expand his professional practice. For example, he is now part of the Diabetes Education Teaching Team at Saint John Regional Hospital, where his role is to cover medication use in patients with diabetes. In his practice at Kennebecasis Drugs he initiates insulin therapy and adjusts insulin dosages as requested by the local physicians.
He’s also the lone pharmacist member of the multidisciplinary Diabetes Task Force for the province of New Brunswick reporting to the Minister of Health. The group, explains Roscoe, was formed to give comment on current programs and suggest new programs in the treatment of the province’s diabetic patients.
Further, Roscoe now provides continuing education to fellow pharmacists, physicians and allied health professionals on various topics involving diabetes and insulin pump therapies. Plus, he’s a consultant with various companies commenting on product educational material, product presentation and marketing approaches, and is often called upon as “an expert reviewer” who looks over presentations and articles that will be provided as an educational program for pharmacists and allied professional health groups. He also volunteers with the local Canadian Diabetes Association providing public education sessions.
Beyond all this, Roscoe will soon be using his CDE background in assessing and trying to bring patients to current recommended therapeutic targets as the interventional pharmacist in a trial on preventing the progress of kidney disease in Type 2 Diabetes.
“Professionally, I find the ability to participate in the patient’s total care, and not just a few minutes at the counter, has more of a reward as you now see the impact of what you can do for the patient on an ongoing basis,” says Roscoe. “... The patient benefits as they have a reliable and visible resource for help in dealing with diabetes that is local and easily accessed.”
Compounding success
Nfld. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in pharmaceutical compounding
By Kristan Wolfe
Thanks to Vicki Parson’s decision to improve on her interest and knowledge of compounding, many women in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, are able to access their specialty hormone replacement creams closer to home.
Her completion of advanced training in pharmaceutical compounding, and successful expansion of her practice as a result, has earned Day the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Newfoundland.
Last April, Parsons, a pharmacist/manager of Lawtons Drugs in Cornerbrook, completed the Science of Pharmaceutical Compounding course through the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy—and only four years after graduating from Memorial University with her pharmacy degree.
The professional benefits of obtaining this specialty training, says Parsons, “have been great. As a student, I had the opportunity to work with a compounding pharmacist and he sparked my interest in specialty compounding... The specialty training gave me the opportunity to gain a greater knowledge about the various dosage forms, stabilities, compounding techniques.”
Also, says Parsons, since earning her designation as a compounding pharmacist ,
more physicians are becoming aware of her service, which has drawn increased interest from them in Bio identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) and pain management therapy via compounding. In fact, she plans to make a presentation to local physicians on BHRT.
The benefits of her advanced training for her patients, continues Parsons, include easier access to specialty compounded medications which, prior to her receiving her designation, would have to be shipped in from other compounding pharmacies. Even then, some local women would drive to a pharmacy 165 km away to have their hormone cream prescriptions filled. But today, Parsons has the ability to compound various dosage forms—such as capsules, creams, suppositories—that are not commercially available, meeting the needs of her community.
“Many of the patients who have been using compounded medications, such as bioidentical hormone replacement and pain cream,” she explains, “have had great results.”
Herbal healing and women’s health
Ont. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in medicinal herbs and women’s health
By Brett Ruffell
In 1995, when Dragana Skokovic-Sunjic started practicing at Dell Pharmacy in Beamsville, Ont., the Sarajevo-born and educated pharmacist was disheartened by the lack of awareness Canadians possessed about medicinal herbs. But by advancing her training in pharmacognosy, Skokovic-Sunjic has been able to educate countless patients and peers about the safe and effective use of herbal products. Combined with her expanded education and accomplishments in women’s health, the pharmacist has earned the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Ontario.
In Sarajevo, which was under siege in 1992 when Skokovic-Sunjic and her family fled, pharmacognosy was a required part of university training. Also, pharmacists in the country would regularly dispense herbal remedies and extracts. However, when she described the area of study to her peers at Dell, they seemed puzzled. “People would look at me as if I’m talking about climbing up a tree and picking something to heal them,” says Skokovic-Sunjic.
But the more she opened up to coworkers about medicinal herbs, the more interested they became. In 1997, Dell—known for being supportive of pharmacists who want to expand their practice—allowed Skokovic-Sunjic to take advanced pharmacognosy training at the University of North Carolina. When the pharmacist returned, she became chairman of Dell’s newly created herbal committee.
Aware of Skokovic-Sunjic’s advanced training in medicinal herbs, patients, peers and doctors increasingly sought out her expertise. In particular, women started approaching her looking for alternatives to deal with menopause symptoms. This trend encouraged the pharmacist to pursue the next chapter in advancing her practice. Unimpressed with the cookie-cutter solutions many women were being prescribed to treat menopause symptoms, Skokovic-Sunjic successfully obtained her Menopause Practitioner credential from the North American Menopause Society in 2003. Equipped with this new knowledge, she began offering women menopause consultations and reviewing risk factors, lifestyle issues and medication options.
By advancing her menopause education, Skokovic-Sunjic was better able to educate women about the changes they were experiencing. “Quite often just talking to these patients and helping them understand what’s going on makes them feel much better,” she says.
Skokovic-Sunjic’s motivation for advancing her practice is far from financial. Rather, equipping herself to make a difference is what drives the pharmacist. “My patients are my biggest reward,” she concludes.
A breath of fresh air
Man. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in respiratory diseases
By Brett Ruffell
Due to Kristine Petrasko’s commitment to furthering her knowledge of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management, countless Manitobans afflicted with respiratory conditions are breathing a whole lot easier.
Petrasko’s advanced training in these two areas has enabled the pharmacist to empower her patients with strong self-management skills. As an educator, speaker and writer, she has also passed on her advanced knowledge to numerous healthcare professionals. For these accomplishments, Petrasko has earned the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Manitoba.
The respiratory expert, who obtained her BScPharm from the University of Manitoba, first got involved in advanced asthma training in 2004 when she took the AsthmaTrec course through the Lung Association. The program was focused on instilling students with the knowledge to better educate asthma patients. Petrasko passed the exam and became a Certified Asthma Educator.
The pharmacist then began working at Misericordia Health Centre (MHC) in Winnipeg as an educator for a program called MHC for Lungs, which was geared towards people with COPD and asthma. Petrasko was the lone pharmacist on a multidisciplinary team and taught the medication portion of the five-week program. It was at MHC working one-on-one with patients on their action plans that Petrasko truly discovered her passion for counselling people with respiratory issues. “Just being able to help was incredible,” she says. “A lot of people get lost in the confusion of all the medications.”
In 2005, Petrasko furthered her respiratory training with the Lung Association when she took the COPDTrec program. (She obtained her Certified Respiratory Educator designation in 2007.) A year later, she shifted her focus to helping people butt out when she completed an advanced facilitator-training program through the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Petrasko has since facilitated numerous smoking cessation programs.
Over the last two years, the pharmacist has been the coordinator and main educator for the Asthma Education Program at the Portage District General Hospital. For the program, Petrasko (who also teaches at the University of Manitoba) delivers one-on-one educational sessions and then collaborates with physicians to develop patient action plans.
Most recently, she joined a six-week initiative aimed at educating children with asthma. For the program, called the Roaring Adventures of Puff (RAP), Petrasko visits asthmatic children grades one to five once a week over the lunch hour to teach them everything they need to know about their condition in a fun environment. The goal of the program, which is being run in assistance with a study by Dr. Allan Becker and the Children’s Asthma Education Centre, is to cut down on the number of school days the children miss and to improve their quality of life. At the end of RAP, the children present everything they’ve learned to their parents.
For Petrasko, the biggest benefit of working hard to advance her training has been witnessing firsthand the difference she’s made to patients’ lives. “Following up with these individuals is particularly rewarding when they tell me that they finally had control of their asthma,” she says. “If I can empower the patient, then I have accomplished something.”
The importance of information
Alberta pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in women’s health
By Brett Ruffell
As a pharmacist who regularly counsels women about menopause, Jodi Wilkie views her role as that of an educator. With an overwhelming amount of misinformation about the condition on the Internet, Wilkie feels it’s her responsibility to provide patients with high-quality, science-based insight and advice.
To enable herself to offer such counselling, the pharmacist completed advanced training in menopause treatment. Her commitment to enhancing her knowledge of women’s health issues, combined with her accomplishments in the area, have led to Wilkie winning the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Alberta.
The menopause expert first became interested in women’s health issues when she worked in community pharmacy. Women would visit the drugstore daily with questions about hormone therapy and other issues related to menopause. To better enable herself to answer patients’ questions about the condition, the pharmacist began reading any educational materials she could get her hands on.
She then moved from self-study to advanced training, writing the Menopause Educator exam (now discontinued), and then joining the North American Menopause Society (NAMS). A few years later she wrote her credential exam and became a NAMS Menopause Practitioner.
Wilkie put her advanced training to work full-time in 2005 when she moved from retail pharmacy to Grey Nuns Community Hospital, where she continues to work in an outpatient menopause clinic. At Grey Nuns, the pharmacist is part of a team of clinical physicians, nurses and health educators. The group collaborates to determine the best approach for helping patients deal with their symptoms. Wilkie’s role is to determine the best therapeutic plans for her patients, provide thorough counselling and identify and resolve drug-related issues.
She’s found her work at Grey Nuns to be both challenging and interesting. The most intriguing part of the job for the pharmacist is her patients. “They have similar symptoms but their medical histories are different,” she says. “We’re realizing more and more that management of menopausal symptoms needs to be individualized.”
Most recently, the Albertan decided to further-enhance her practice by pursuing additional prescribing authority, which the province authorized in 2007. Though she works on a collaborative team, Wilkie often gets follow-up phone calls from patients. She thought the additional authority would enable her to better-serve patients by making necessary changes to drug therapy quickly over the phone.
Thus, in 2007 Wilkie took part in a pilot project and became one of the first 15 pharmacists in Alberta to be granted prescribing privileges. She feels the additional authority validates the thought held by many patients that pharmacists are the go-to experts on medications. “I think this further enhances my patients’ confidence in me,” she says.
The pharmacist’s advanced expertise continues to send her in numerous directions. She’s taught pharmacy students at the University of Alberta about hormonal contraceptives. Also, in May of this year she began working at Royal Alexandra Hospital, where she works in a similar role to the one at Grey Nuns. And recently she has expanded her women’s health practice beyond menopause and into some obstetrical medicine clinics.
For Wilkie, all of the work she’s put into enhancing her practice goes back to her role as a patient educator. “I can help them to make better decisions because I know that I’m giving them all the information that I need to.”
The butt stops here
N.S. pharmacist wins Wyeth Apothecary Award for advanced training in smoking cessation
By Brett Ruffell
Any smoker who has attempted to kick the habit knows that it’s not as simple as grabbing a pack of Nicorette. Rather, butting out poses a number of lingering mental and physical obstacles that one must overcome before they’re truly free from the addiction.
By advancing his knowledge of smoking cessation with the Nova Scotia Lung Association, Paul Zinck was able to develop a multi-faceted program for helping smokers quit. Zinck’s smoking-cessation training and subsequent efforts in the area have earned the pharmacy manager with Lawtons Drugs in St. Peter’s, N.S., the Wyeth Apothecary Award for Nova Scotia.
Zinck first became interested in helping smokers quit when, through his studies at Dalhousie University, he learned that the habit causes or worsens 99% of known diseases. “So it just seemed like one area you could make a huge difference,” he says.
One day, the pharmacist came across an article about smoking-cessation guru Dr. Gerry Browsky. Intrigued, Zinck contacted Browsky to discuss his interest in learning to help patients butt out. The smoking expert put Zinck in touch with Allan Hone, director of the Lung Association’s Quit 4 Good program, and shortly after the pharmacist went through the specialized training.
Equipped with this new knowledge, Zinck went on to help organize a 10-week smoking-cessation program. The course, which was held once a week for an hour, covered a wide-variety of things smokers come up against when trying to quit. For example, Zinck brought in a dietitian and physical trainer. “You get some people that put on 40 to 50 pounds and then start smoking again because they don’t want to keep putting on the weight,” he says.
He also brought experts in to help smokers with the mental aspects of quitting, such as a yoga and stress-relief instructor. “Once you get past the first three months, the physical addiction is pretty much gone,” says Zinck. “It’s the behavioural and mental addiction that goes with it that they have such a hard time breaking.”
Clearly, patients have benefited from Zinck’s wealth of knowledge. The clinic he ran from 1997 to 2000 had an immediate 85–90% success rate, and 50% of those remain non-smokers today. Also, whether it’s in courses or the one-on-one counselling sessions he provides at Lawtons, the pharmacist’s patients know that they have his unconditional support. “Quitting has so many highs and lows,” he says. “I let people know that the support is there no matter if they happen to fall back and start smoking in one week.”
The professional benefits of Zinck’s advanced training and anti-smoking efforts have been numerous. Being recognized as a smoking-cessation expert has led more patients to Lawtons seeking his council. The pharmacist also derives satisfaction from helping people reach their goals and improve their health. But most of all, Zinck is inspired to prevent the domino effect that goes along with smoking—not just the impact of second-hand exposure but the influence of children seeing their parents light up. “Watching your parents smoke, it’s more natural for you to do it too,” he says.
Though Zinck no longer delivers the weekly program he helped develop, the pharmacist is no less motivated in his smoking-cessation efforts. He began speaking tours on smoking addiction in 2005 and continues to counsel patients at Lawtons. His wife’s grandfather, who has terminal COPD, serves as a constant reminder of the physical harm smoking causes and the importance of his work.
