Explore Shingrix - GSK
Search
Close this search box.

Announcing 2014 Wellspring winners

Announcing 2014 Wellspring winners

2014 Wellspring Award winners Kelly Grindrod, Rod Forsey and Ingrid Sketris.

This year’s recipients of the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy’s Wellspring Award are seeking to become catalysts for change in community pharmacy. All three winners are pursuing unique training that will equip them to be better leaders and advocates for the profession.

Sharing stories, inspiring action
Marketers will tell you that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, particularly when social media are brought into play. Kelly Grindrod, Assistant Professor at University of Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy in Waterloo, Ontario, is leveraging that maxim into a change management strategy that will tell the story of pharmacy’s transformation into a provider of patient-centred care.

Grindrod will use funding from the Wellspring Award to participate in workshops for narrative medicine at Columbia University’s Faculty of Medicine, New York, and multi-media storytelling at the Centre for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California. She will share her learnings with pharmacy students and in research papers, as well as create a website for pharmacists and patients to share their experiences.

“Research tells us that many pharmacists feel they are too busy, too tired, too alone and too invisible to change. And while the leaders of the profession have drawn maps to a bright and important future, change management theory tells us the road ahead is precarious and complex,” wrote Grindrod in her Wellspring application. She describes storytelling “as a form of advocacy for practice change,” adding that there is growing interest in “using story to translate research knowledge into practice and even some evidence supporting its use in the clinical management of illnesses.”

Leadership outside the box
Since graduating from Newfoundland and Labrador’s Memorial University School of Pharmacy in 1999, Rod Forsey has volunteered for both advocacy and regulatory bodies in an effort to support pharmacy’s evolution toward more patient-centred care. His dedication to practice change has shaped his career path as well at Lawtons Drugs, where he currently holds the position of Pharmacy Services Specialist for Halifax and Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. While some would say he is already doing his part, Forsey believes he can do much more to support the profession–but the missing piece needs to come from outside pharmacy.

The Wellspring Award will enable Forsey to complete the Certificate in Engaging Stakeholders and Leading Change offered by the Executive & Professional Development department at St. Mary’s University. “This award will allow me to explore an opportunity for further education that I can use to promote pharmacy and help others within our profession transition to a clinically focused model,” says Forsey. “It will also allow me to build upon my previous advocacy and regulatory experience to be a leader in our province and company.”

Research mentoring
As Professor and Associate Director of Research at Dalhousie University’s College of Pharmacy, Ingrid Sketris founded the Initiative for Medication Management, Policy Analysis, Research and Training. While her research team explores the professional, regulatory, financial and organizational factors that affect medication management, she is increasingly called upon to mentor colleagues in pharmacy and other health professions across Canada.

With that growing personal role in mind, Sketris sought leadership training within the context of clinical pharmacy. She found it in the Leadership and Management Certificate program at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy–and thanks to the Wellspring Award, has registered to complete the program in April 2015.

“The leadership training will help me develop skills to mentor junior academic researchers to conduct research that will strengthen the evidence base to assist pharmacists to practice to their full scope of practice, to gain recognition for their expanded roles and to determine approaches to facilitate pharmacists’ involvement in chronic disease management,” wrote Sketris in her Wellspring application.

CFP established the Wellspring Award in 2012 to commemorate Barb Wells, the founding Executive Director of the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Associations and a vocal advocate for pharmacy’s expanded scope of practice. The Award fosters personal leadership development in pharmacy.

Like it? Share it with your colleagues

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related Articles

Join Our Newsletter

Get notified when new articles are published, news events are posted, etc.

Make a Million-Dollar Difference

The Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy is dedicated to advancing the profession of pharmacy by funding practical, grassroots research and innovative models of practice. To do this, CFP relies on donations from individuals and corporations.

Changing Face of Pharmacy

Fall 2023

Services Chart

As part of its annual Changing Face of Pharmacy report, the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy...

COVID-19 Chart

The federal and provincial governments have enacted a wide range of temporary laws, regulations...