The College of Pharmacy Class of 2016 at the Welcome to the Profession and Awards Ceremony at the Bannatyne campus.
Congratulations to College of Pharmacy Class of 2016
Pharmacy grads look to a future of giving back
On Thursday, June 2, the College of Pharmacy in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences celebrated 48 graduands from the College of Pharmacy in a Welcome to the Profession and Awards Ceremony in the Brodie atrium preceding the University of Manitoba afternoon Convocation.
Dr. Lavern Vercaigne delivered the keynote address to the graduands who are about to embark on their new careers. Dr. Vercaigne, Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) in the College of Pharmacy, was also the recipient of this year’s Fourth Year Teaching Award.
He urged graduates to “go the extra mile for at least one person every day that you’re at work. If you think about your retirement 40 years from now you’ll be able to think about all of the people that you met and the help you gave. Those will be the memories that will have really made your career worthwhile and so much more rewarding.”
It was an especially poignant convocation ceremony as it was Dr. Neal Davies last as Dean of the College of Pharmacy.
He encouraged the graduates to celebrate their accomplishments on their special day but reminded them that tomorrow the hard work really begins.
“It’s not about you now, it’s about your patients,” Davies said. “The most important legacy is not the financial one, it’s the human one, and the most important currency you can have is the effect you can have on other people.”
Valedictorian Alexis Wanner thanked the graduates’ families and faculty members, while also echoing Dean Davies’ sentiments.
“I now have a much better understanding of what it means to be part of this profession,” she said. “We have a job caring for and improving the lives of those around us, which is a passion I know everyone here today shares.”
Awards recipients included:
Gold medal: Emily Wiebe
Silver medal: Nicholas Malzahn
President’s Prize: Jacy Howarth
C.S.H.P. (Manitoba Branch) Award: Alanna Doell
Pharmacists Manitoba A. Langley Jones Leadership Award: Alexis Wanner
Fourth Year Teaching Award: Dr. Lavern Vercaigne