Advancing pharmacy education through reflection and innovation

Faculty members discuss experiences, insights, and lessons learned from the first year of the Faculty's three-year PharmD curriculum during a panel discussion at Education Development Day 2026.

On June 25, educators from the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy gathered for the Faculty's annual Education Development Day, a day dedicated to reflection, collaboration and innovation in pharmacy education. Organized by the Faculty's Education Office, the event brought faculty and staff together to share insights from the past year, explore emerging approaches to teaching and learning, and highlight ongoing educational initiatives led by faculty members.

This year's keynote presentation, “Reveal Your Sources: Using Education Sciences to Design Learning Environments that Achieve our Educational Goals,” was delivered by Dr. Ryan Brydges, Wilson Centre scientist and professor at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Focusing on the relationship between self-regulated and co-regulated learning, Brydges explored how learning is shaped not only by individual learners but also by the people, environments and systems around them. Framing the curriculum as an interconnected ecosystem rather than a collection of individual courses, he encouraged educators to intentionally design learning environments that leverage these influences to support students' immediate success while helping them develop into effective, lifelong learners.

“One of the greatest strengths of our Faculty is our commitment to continually improving how we educate learners.”

Education Day also marked an important milestone for the Faculty's new three-year PharmD program, coinciding with the completion of its inaugural first-year curriculum. Attendees heard from a panel of PharmD course coordinators who reflected on lessons learned during the program's first year and identified opportunities to continue strengthening the curriculum. The panel featured teaching-stream assistant professors Ashlee Brunt, Lisa Ferrara, Heather Kertland and Minh-Hiên Lê, along with associate professor, teaching stream, Sandra Bjelajac Mejia. A shared takeaway was that students valued the high level of integration across courses and experiential rotations, while ongoing student feedback remains essential to continually refining and improving the learning experience.

“One of the greatest strengths of our Faculty is our commitment to continually improving how we educate learners,” says Jamie Kellar, Associate Dean Academic and Associate Professor, Teaching Stream at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy.

“Education Development Day provides an opportunity to learn from one another, reflect on our collective work, and ensure that our educational decisions are informed by the best available evidence. That culture of collaboration and educational scholarship will continue to drive innovation across all of our programs.”

By bringing educators together to share experiences, examine evidence-informed teaching practices and reflect on curriculum innovation, Education Development Day continues to strengthen the Faculty's commitment to educational excellence and the ongoing evolution of pharmacy education.