Dear Colleagues and CAPhO members,
Ever since I became a member of CAPhO, I have wanted to attend a CAPhO Conference. This year, I was very fortunate to have received the Student and Resident Travel Grant in order to attend CAPhO Conference 2018 at the beautiful Hilton Lac Leamy in Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec. I am happy to say that the experience did not disappoint! From the satellite symposia to the plenary sessions, and the networking events in between, I found myself completely immersed in the fascinating and ever-changing world of oncology pharmacy practice.
Throughout the weekend, the sessions that I attended were consistently engaging and informative. As the theme of this year’s conference was “Better Together”, the concepts of collaboration and patient-centered care were common motifs throughout. After attending the conference, I feel inspired to incorporate not only the clinical pearls that I learned during the various presentations into my own practice after residency, but also the approaches to collaborative care that were highlighted. Moving forward, I will continue to strive towards learning how to best unite both the perspectives of other practitioners and the values of my patients and their families in an effort to improve my practice even further.
Being a poster presenter, I also had the opportunity to meet and network with a large number of professionals during the poster fair. Making these connections will offer me the possibility of forming the foundation of knowledge sharing and collaboration on which I hope to build my future career. In addition, I got the chance to see firsthand the huge number of high-quality research projects and initiatives taken on by my pharmacy colleagues. This experience has motivated me to continue my participation in research and pharmacy-led projects after my residency is completed.
Finally, in addition to the knowledge that I gained from attending the various sessions offered at the conference, I was also blown away by the enthusiastic and friendly nature of the conference attendees. Wearing my “First CAPhO Conference” ribbon affixed to my conference badge throughout the weekend attracted countless welcoming greetings and interactions, which I greatly appreciated.
In conclusion, I had a thoroughly positive experience at this year’s CAPhO Conference in Ottawa-Gatineau. I look forward to attending many more CAPhO conferences in the future.
Sincerely,
Samantha Polito, RPh, BSc, PharmD
General Hospital Resident (Oncology Focus)
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (University Health Network), Toronto