CAPSI Future of Pharmacy Excellence Award Winner
Peter Zhang’s Bio
Pharmacy School: University of Toronto
Year of Pharmacy School: Class of 2021
Initiatives through school (clubs, committees, positions):
I served in my first year as Webmaster for my class council where I built a class website to provide the class with an online presence. The next year, I went on to serve as Webmaster for the Undergraduate Pharmacy Society where I configured programs that supported student life programs across all classes.
For the last two years, I was also involved with the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists branch at the University of Toronto where I sat on the Communications and Membership committees. In this capacity, I regularly contributed to the student newspaper, “The Monograph”, to expose students to the career insights of various hospital pharmacists.
Initiatives outside school (optional; volunteering etc.):
Throughout pharmacy school, I worked as a Residence Don at New College, University of Toronto where I supported students through their transition to university life. The experience definitely helped me grow as a leader as I became closely involved with student development, mentorship, and mental health safety.
I was also a Co-Founder for 3DPPE GTHA where I worked with medical, pharmacy, and health professional students to mobilize community 3D printers to address the personal protective equipment (PPE) shortage during COVID-19. It was a highly rewarding experience and we were able to produce 25,000 face shields for over 167 healthcare facilities throughout Ontario.
I enjoy writing and healthcare advocacy. In the past year, I have penned articles in the Toronto Star, Windsor Star, and Hospital News on matters such as flu vaccinations, smoking cessation, suicide prevention, naloxone kit uptake, and antimicrobial stewardship
Interview
What inspired you to become a pharmacist?
One of my mentors during my undergraduate studies was a pharmacy student. At the time, she was rotating through various hospitals in Toronto and I was really inspired by the versatility of the profession through her experiences. From compounding IV bags for patients to conducting clinical research, I saw how pharmacists were able to provide really unique and specialized contributions to clinical care. From there, I also learned about the range of roles that pharmacists can play in the community, research, government, military, and pharmaceutical industry which really convinced me that I would be able to leverage my skills in a diverse range of settings as a pharmacist.
What is your favourite memory during your pharmacy studies at the University of Toronto?
There’s a lot to choose from! But I think one of my best memories is when my experiments in the laboratory finally started working and my postdoctoral supervisor joked to me that we would win the Nobel Prize.
What do you hope to achieve during your career?
One of my interests is the integration of technology with clinical care within both the community and hospital settings. I’m hoping to leverage my hospital and leadership experiences to be a part of new digital health innovations.
Any advice for incoming/current students?
Seek mentors! There’s definitely a lot of different opportunities out there and it’s better to be prepared ahead of time to get a good idea of which areas you want to explore.
Fun fact about you!
I really enjoy Chinese and Korean dramas, especially romantic comedies.