Pharmacy Corner
RESOURCES FOR PHARMACY

sk Dr. Jake Thiessen about the University of Waterloo’s new School of Pharmacy and he gets a sparkle in his eye. He’s absolutely passionate about the school, and he’ll literally talk for hours about this groundbreaking project.

But there’s one facet of the school’s story that really sparks his enthusiasm: the new School of Pharmacy offers Canada’s first co-op Pharmacy program.

“Until now, Pharmacy graduates have generally emerged with terrific ‘head’ knowledge, but they have been short on the translation of that knowledge into practice. That’s going to change here because of our co-op program,” says Dr. Thiessen.

The team that designed the school spent much time researching Pharmacy education programs in other universities, and the one thought that kept recurring was “Why not co-op?” At Northeastern University in Massachusetts – the only school in North America that has a Co-op Program -- graduates are in huge demand, and there is 100% support for the co-op model from the students there. Still, getting to the point of deciding to incorporate a co-op Pharmacy program has been an uphill battle for Dr. Thiessen.

“Universities have typically embraced the medical model, with all the theory up front, and all the practical experience at the end of the program. However, we were keen to have our graduates hit the ground running with rich practical experience. Co-op appeared to be the answer, but it was unconventional in Pharmacy.”