Wellness Wednesday Graphic

Student Mental Health: Promoting a culture of wellness

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of post-secondary students has been significant. In May 2020, a survey led by the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations found that 70 per cent of students reported feeling stressed, anxious or isolated and more than 80 per cent of students reported feeling anxious about their futures. To help address some of the isolation and anxiety students were facing Jamie Kellar, Associate Dean Academic, created a Wellness Wednesday series for students at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. “We wanted to promote wellness and help students build resiliency throughout the winter term and to make that a priority on a weekly basis,” she said.

In one of the toughest stretches of the pandemic, the series included weekly posts on social media based on a theme or quote shared alongside a scientific statement and suggested activity. There were also virtual Coffee Chats and virtual yoga sessions led by faculty members. “It was well received by many students who reached out to say they found the content helpful,” said Kellar. “We know this is a small piece in what we need to do to continue to support students but it was good to see a focus on proactive wellness for a group that faces significant stress even pre-pandemic.” 

Ed Hub Graphic

Support for online teaching with innovative Education Hub

In July 2020, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy launched a virtual Education Hub (ECH) to support online teaching and foster community connection across divisions at U of T. Built using Quercus, U of T’s  learning management system, the ECH is a dynamic hub that streamlines teaching support services and administrative processes for faculty, staff and Teaching Assistants (TAs). 

As the Faculty prepared for the start of the 2020 academic year, the ECH was accessed over 30,000 times between July and September 2020 and has been shared by colleagues in U of T’s Ontario Institute for Studies in Education,  Online Learning Academy in Faculty of Arts and Science, and the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing. The ECH continues to foster an online community of learning and offers the necessary flexibility and scalability to meet the changing needs of our teaching community into the future. 

The work has been recognized by the American Association of College of Pharmacy (AACP) and was selected to present at their annual meeting and in a poster presentation at AACP 2021 Virtual Pharmacy Education in 2021.

By the Numbers

Rankings

The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy is recognized as one of the top faculties of pharmacy in the world. According to 2020 QS World rankings we are:

#1

in Canada

Top 10

internationally

Student & Learners

Doctor of

Pharmacy

957

enrolled

234

graduated

PharmD for

Pharmacists

160

enrolled

35

graduated

International

Pharmacy

Graduate

Program

98

enrolled

89

graduated

Pharmaceutical

Sciences

MSc, PhD

142

enrolled
50 MSc, 92 PhD

23

graduated

Pharmaceutical

Chemistry

59

enrolled

18

graduated

Undergraduate

Summer

Research

Program

190

applicants

10

students enrolled from Universities across Canada