Innovative UBC Professor Brings Canadian Standards to a Middle Eastern Pharmacy College
When the president of Qatar calls you up and asks you to develop a pharmacy program for his country's university, what do you say? Well, if you're award-winning UBC professor Dr. Peter Jewesson (BSc(Pharm) 1978) (PhD 1986), you say, How soon can I book my ticket?
In 2006, on the invitation of President Sheikha Al-Misnad, Dr. Jewesson and his wife Barbara, co-director with her husband of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Clinical Services unit at Vancouver Hospital, travelled to Qatar to work with the university on launching the first-ever pharmacy degree program in the country. While there were already numerous pharmacy training programs available to students in Qatar, the calibre of pharmacy practice was not consistent. The Qatar University College of Pharmacy wanted to graduate students whose degrees would be internationally recognized. In doing so, it became the first university outside of Canada to receive accreditation through the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programs (CCAPP). Dr. Jewesson, who during his 20+ years of experience as a researcher, academic and practitioner in British Columbia has taught pharmacy, nursing and medical students, and has mentored dozens of postgraduate pharmacy students, was familiar with the Canadian curriculum and understood how a good pharmacy program might be designed.
So he built it—and they came. Over the next six years, Dr. Jewesson laid the foundation for what is now a highly regarded college of pharmacy offering three degree programs (BSc, MSc, PharmD). He assembled and mentored a team of talented and committed faculty and staff, attracted highly motivated and intellec-tually capable students, established strong partnerships with local and international affili¬ates, and contributed to the advancement the pharmacy education, practice and research in this Middle Eastern region. Under his leadership, the program has achieved regional and international recognition for quality and innovation.
In 2012, Dr. Jewesson retired from full-time academic life to work as a consultant for Qatar and other international clients. This flexible work-life balance lets him travel wider with Barbara, ride his motorcycle through the SoCal deserts, and take photographs that rival anything Ansel Adams ever produced (see for yourself at http://peterjewesson.com).