CSHP CABS Symposium – October 2022
Back in September, our friends at CSHP-AB extended an invitation for the PTSA board members to attend their CABS Symposium and AGM on Oct 1, 2022. This year it presented an opportunity for new board members, such as myself, to join the hybrid symposium, both virtually and in person.
I was lucky enough to travel down to Calgary and join in on the music fueled evening, and rub elbows with the stakeholders as my first official business as a newly appointed board member.
The evening session was composed of a dinner symposium sponsored by Paladin Labs Inc., an awards ceremony and a networking event, all held at Canada Olympic Park in the WinSport Centre. The theme of this year’s event was music, and participants were encouraged to come dressed (or change) as their favorite musical artist for an evening full of fun.
First on the list was the lovely sit down dinner and presentation from Dr Rita Dhami from the University of Waterloo on the topic, “Targeting Treatment to the Patients: The 2022 Antimicrobial Playlist”. During her presentation, Dr. Dhami reflected on her time as a pharmacist on the infectious disease (ID) team, and the Antimicrobial Stewardship Pharmacist at the London Health Sciences Centre’s Victoria Hospital. Those in attendance were tested with antimicrobial and music trivia throughout her enlightening presentation, which set the stage for the rest of the evening.
After dinner, the attendees donned their best musical artist costumes, and gathered in the Winsport Hockey House for games, and awards. I was graced by the likes of Wheezer, Twisted Sister, CATS from Broadway, David Bowie and even Freddie Mercury! The atmosphere was fun and the music was pumping as only you could imagine! Having been the only board member in attendance that evening, I played it safe and threw on a simple black dress and teased my hair to become Adele for the rest of the night. There was no better time to jump into the festivities and introduce myself to those who graciously invited the PTSA to their symposium.
The rest of the evening was set off with cocktails, speeches and awards. I had the pleasure of being introduced to Joshua Torrence who was not only kind enough to extend the invitation for the PTSA to attend, but was also recognized for his work as past president (sponsored by Fresenius Kabi) as well as awarded the 2022 Practitioner Award. Other awards for the evening also included the CSHP-AB Residency Awards (Lisa Zhang, Teagan Zeggil,) Pharmacy Practice Residency Research Award sponsored by Pfizer (Sarah Drost,) and the CSHP Future Professional Award (Daniel Martino) to just name a few!
After the awards ceremony wrapped up, there were lots of interactive games for those in attendance, and those joining from home, more delicious food, and more opportunities to mix and mingle.The entire evening was fun, lighthearted and enriched with laughter. Not only was it a great chance for myself to interact with other pharmacy professionals, shake some hands, and represent the PTSA, but it was an even better sight to see so many like minded individuals come together to learn, and celebrate each other once again.
Melissa Olson