Shams Qaend

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT SHAMS QAEND

Featured on Pharmacy Practice + Business magazine November/December 2024 edition. An IPG consultant at the Canadian Pharmacists Association, a pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart, she graduated from the International Pharmacy Graduate (IPG) Bridging Program from the University of Toronto, and a PharmD graduate from the University of Jordan, Shams is an ACRP-CP and CCRP certified clinical researcher, entrepreneur, and web and phone applications developer. Due to her passion for technology, she was able to create RxCourse Institute Inc. platform in pharmacy education; she got her success story published by the city of Mississauga. Shams has an ultimate goal to ease the path for international pharmacists to get a foothold in the Canadian healthcare system, to replace the journey of licensure from broken hearts and shattered dreams to success, happiness and joy of achievements. She arrived in Canada in 2018 and noticed that immigration is like hitting the factory reset button on your phone, except you’re re-setting yourself as a human being. She was shocked at how difficult it seemed, and so many just gave up! She was especially bothered by all the ladies she met in their 30s and 40s who had owned pharmacies in their home countries. And then they come to Canada, and they put their dreams on the back burner. It’s a waste! And she knew that everything would change for them and their families once they started doing their exams and earning salaries. Shams became an advocate for international pharmacists going back to being a practicing pharmacist in Canada and a pharmacy career educator in newcomers’ organizations like Achēv. Equipped with more than followers on social media, and views on YouTube, she was able to help over 500 international pharmacists on her online platform during the pandemic.