The Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns, or CAPSI, is the national student organization joining all 10 pharmacy schools in Canada.
CAPSI’s mandate is to advocate on behalf of over 3,500 general members, create extracurricular learning, networking and leadership opportunities, and provide a platform for students and interns to get involved in the pharmacy profession while still in school. Through everything the association does, we aim to uphold our five values: unity, professionalism, advocacy, academics, and excellence. The association is best summed up by discussing each value individually.
Our Values
To start, we strive to achieve unity by ensuring all schools are represented. Our national council is composed of a junior and senior local representative from each school who liaise with an executive team during four national meetings per year. CAPSI also commits to unity by providing all written material available in both English and French, as well as by hosting national events such as Wellness Weeks that all members may attend.
CAPSI helps students develop professionalism by hosting Professional Development Week (PDW), an annual national conference that rotates host locations each year. Members from across the country are invited to attend educational sessions and workshops, compete in national competitions, and network with other students. Students may also build professional skills by running for leadership positions on CAPSI council during our national elections.
As the voice of pharmacy students and interns in Canada, CAPSI prioritizes advocacy as one of its values. Position statements are written to identify and address present issues, with recent topics including racism in healthcare, delay of pharmacist licensure, and vaccine hesitancy. CAPSI also hosts a subcommittee joining students from across Canada to discuss current events and opportunities for student advocacy.
CAPSI upholds the value of academics by providing opportunities for students to learn more about pharmacy-related topics beyond the classroom. These include speaker sessions at our annual PDW conference, national webinars, and local symposiums. CAPSI also organizes competitions both locally at each school, and nationally between schools. These competitions allow students to practice their skills in areas such as counseling, compounding, and writing in a fun environment.
Lastly, excellence is a value that CAPSI strives to demonstrate in all our activities. CAPSI inspires students to achieve great things through involvement in our events, councils, and subcommittees. As the future generation of pharmacists, the excellence we show in our initiatives reflects not only on CAPSI, but on the profession of pharmacy as a whole.
Pharmacy Appreciation Month
March is a particularly important month of the year for CAPSI, as local chapters work tirelessly to organize initiatives to celebrate Pharmacy Appreciation Month. Activities often include social media campaigns, educational panels and symposia, volunteering opportunities, primary and secondary school outreach, and fun events for students. This year, CAPSI’s presence and activities have been fully online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For more information about CAPSI and to see what we have been up to this month, please visit our website or Facebook page.
