The Ontario College of Pharmacists is pleased to announce that Ms. Susan James, Director of Quality, has been awarded the prestigious title of FIP Fellow at this year’s International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) World Congress of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The FIP is a global body representing over four million pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.
Those awarded FIP fellowships are individuals who, through their vision and commitment to their profession, are making outstanding contributions to the fields of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences. Each year the FIP honours professionals who have demonstrated commendable work and dedication in areas which parallel FIP’s overall mission of advancing pharmacy practice, science and education for the betterment of global health.
The journey to introduce pharmacy technicians as a regulated profession in Ontario took an extraordinary amount of work and effort from many dedicated people over several years, culminating in regulations that would ultimately underpin the introduction of the profession in Ontario and the passing of those regulations in 2010. Susan played an important leadership role in the work to develop and implement these regulations and has since helped to firmly establish pharmacy technicians within pharmacy practice across the province. Today in Ontario, there are approximately 5,000 technicians registered to practice in both community and hospital settings.
This is a well-deserved recognition for Susan’s contributions to pharmacy practice and her – and her team’s – continued efforts on a number of initiatives aimed at advancing the quality of pharmacy in the public interest.
Susan joins OCP past-President, Regis Vaillancourt, as the sixth Canadian to be honoured as an FIP Fellow since 2006.