Serena Westad

A little about Serena Westad : Serena has a number of involvements from rock climbing, to food bank volunteerism, to bodybuilding and even 4-H involvement. She is a highly involved community minded young woman, who has a firm belief in 'paying it forward'. As a 4-H alumni, she has been a regular volunteer for the Valhalla 4-H beef club where she has organized workshops on multiple occasions for the Club's members to develop skills for: Public Speaking, Showmanship, Grooming, and Judging.Serena has a optimistic and positive attitude when facing any situation. She is often the first one to offer help to someone who needs it and looks for opportunities to contribute to an honorable cause. Serena has experience in a diverse portfolio of roles requiring leadership and communication skills. She has been a contributor to the campus wide University of Alberta Health Sciences Journal, was elected to the position of Interprofessional Director for the Alberta Pharmacy Students Association, and also an Alberta representative for the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Students and Interns. She was an active contributor to her pharmacy faculty; participating on many committes vital to the welfare of the program including, but not limited to: the Student Advisory Committee, the 'Mr. Pharmacy' Community Support Committee, the committee responsible for coordinating pharmacy student rotations, for consecutive years, as well as a Student Representative for the Faculty chaired Curriculum Assessment Committee. Serena is also known for her involvement outside of her Faculty. She was a volunteer with the SHINE (Student Health Initiative for the Needs of Edmonton) for 2 years, where she was involved with other interdisiplinary health students, and preceptors, providing accessible health services to Edmonton's inner-city youth. Serena was also an active member within the University of Alberta's Golden Key International Honor Society Chapter, in 2009 holding the position of VP Social Director/Secretary . She is still involved with this organization and she still currently participates in it as a graduate student.Serena has been recognized for her contributions through recieving awards such as the Leaders of Tomorrow in 2006 and 2008 for the Hythe Region/Grande Prairie District. She was honored with the reception of the Conocophillips Centennial Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Community Involvement, and also achieved a First Class Standing during her undergraduate at the University of Alberta recieving distinction on the Deans List, and a scholarship for Academic Excellence.Serena was further recognized in Pharmacy throughout her degree. She was awarded the Class Involvement award by the Alberta College of Pharmacists in her first year, and also was the 1st place winner for the Alberta Chapter, CAPSI Literary Competition in two different years: her first year and her third year of pharmacy. She participated actively in several other pharmacy facilitated events, including compounding competitions, and placed second in the 2011 Patient Interview Competition in Alberta. Serena recieved the Class involvement award once again in her second year, and in her third year was awarded the Dean and President of APSA's Award for Community Service, and was also awarded the Citizenship Award by the Alberta College of Pharmacists.Serena has a passion for the healthcare professions that is unrivalled. She respects all health professionals, disipline, specialty, designation, and care environment; she believes all professionals have a place on a healthcare team, but they have to be willing to accept, delegate, and work as colleagues. Since her position with APSA as the Interprofessional Director, she has developed a strong belief that the best way to develop strong cohesive professional relationships is a bottom up approach. She believes that a collegial atmosphere must be fostered early in the educational environment, and for existing professionals, it is her goal to develop a universal, secure, convenient, efficient, conduit for the collaboration of these professionals. Serena believes that this will foster relationships, avoid conflict, increase care interventions, appropriate referrals, positive patient outcomes, and ultimately save a wealth of healthcare dollars we save, via preventative care and timely intervention/collaboration, that can then be reallocated to our health programs and the populations who need our health resources the most.Serena's highly charismatic, developed public speaking skills and pensive universal communication skills have been valuable assets to have in her professional arsenal. Sensitive to adjusting language and content to suit promotion of a product/service to a variety of education specialties, health literacy, and skill levels. She is an ambitious, driven young woman with a positive attitude and innovative approach. Serena always is looking for ways that she can make her community, and therefore a small step at a time; our world, a better place. Serena is a remarkable student, citizen, and health professional advocate who will undoubtedly do great things through her contributions within the health professional forum.

Health, Fitness, bodybuilding, Volunteerism, music, reading, writing, and photography