Ingrid Sketris, Pharm.D., began her pharmacy career by completing a pharmacy degree (BSc(Phm)) at the University of Toronto in 1977. During her last year of pharmacy school, Sketris conducted laboratory and animal research before deciding to pursue her Pharm.D. degree. At the time, the Pharm.D. degree was not available in Canada, so she completed her doctorate at the University of Minnesota in 1979. During her Pharm.D. program, she worked in the Poison Control Center, which led her to pursue a clinical toxicology & pharmacy practice residency at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. After residency training, Sketris accepted a joint position with 50% clinical practice in the local hospital and 50% as an assistant professor at the Dalhousie University College of Pharmacy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1980. Her clinical practice was initially in the medical ICU, where she cared for patients with medication overdoses using her expertise in toxicology. She also practiced with the internal medicine team and later in kidney transplantation, where she discovered her clinical niche, specifically providing care to these patients and researching cyclosporine pharmacokinetics. “The ACCP Transplant PRN,” she notes, “was particularly useful as it connected me with others practicing in this field.” Sketris completed her MPA (HSA) degree at Dalhousie University in 1989.

Sketris has an extensive background and expertise in research and service. She was a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel of the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (1996–1998) and the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (1999–2004 and 2019–2023). She was a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute Advisory Board for Health Services and Policy Research (2003–2009 including vice chair), a non-governmental councilor of the Health Council of Canada (2010–2013), and a board member of Research Canada. From 2000 to 2011, she held a chair position in drug use management and policy funded by CIHR/Canadian Health Services Research Foundation and cosponsored by the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation.

In 1995, the government of Nova Scotia provided Dalhousie University with over 10 years of administrative health data, including drug data for the provincially funded pharmacare program, and a research unit was set up to house the data. With these data sets and regular updates as an anchor, Sketris has been working in health services research studying pharmaceutical policy and drug safety and effectiveness ever since.

Regarding innovation throughout her career, Sketris was one of 12 Canadian researchers who received chairs in health services research under the Capacity for Applied and Developmental Research and Evaluation in Health Services and Nursing program in 2000. The program provided her with 10 years of funding, which she used largely to support 38 graduate students from a wide array of disciplines including health informatics, law, epidemiology, nursing, health administration, and pharmacy. She provided the graduate students with a 4-month residency experience, the Drug Use Management and Policy Residency Program, to create research evidence to assist with real-world problems defined by decision-maker preceptors working in government, hospitals, and primary and long-term care. The residents were supported by 31 preceptors along with 26 faculty advisers from pharmacy and other academic disciplines from both Dalhousie and other universities. The research teams used a community-engaged scholarship approach and provided scientific evidence to catalyze innovation in the health system.

Since 2011, Sketris has been the Knowledge Translation team lead for the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES). CNODES is a collaborating core network partner of CoLab of the Canadian Drug Agency, which conducts studies to address drug use, safety, and effectiveness using population-based administrative health care data from Canada and other countries. Sketris’ team has built a framework to evaluate the knowledge translation of CNODES, including developing a theory of change and a logic model.

Sketris has also done research observing the effects of changes in legislation and scopes of practice for pharmacists in Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia, pharmacists have had authority to prescribe medications since 2011 and administer drugs by injection since 2013. Additional prescribing authority was added in 2019 and again in 2022. Researchers at the Dalhousie University College of Pharmacy, including Sketris, conducted studies to understand how and why pharmacists were taking up the new scopes of practice and to help tailor educational programs.

Sketris also shared her expertise as the only pharmacist on the panel for two Canadian Academy of Health Sciences assessments: Optimizing Scopes of Practice: New Models of Care for a New Health Care System and Assessment on Health Human Resources.

Regarding advice for ACCP members, students, or residents, Sketris recommends looking for opportunities to contribute to scholarship – start small with case reports or case series and allow the projects to grow larger as you build your career. She advises celebrating all attempts, both successes and rejections, in abstract submissions, publications, and grants. “You will have learned from your reflections on the feedback provided and then you can be ready with resubmissions.” Additional perspectives from Sketris to new practitioners are reminders that a pharmacist’s career is long, and as such, they can focus on different aspects of pharmacy over time. “Develop strategies and tactics to promote your own well-being and resilience in order to attain a work-life balance that works for you.”

Regarding mentorship and career development for practicing pharmacists, Sketris points out that mentoring programs are often composed of mentoring dyads. However, pharmacists have a variety of roles – teaching, clinical practice, and service – and one mentor may not have all of these skills. Instead of thinking of mentoring dyads, she recommends building developmental networks of individuals within and outside your organization who provide professional and psychosocial support. Because pharmacists have many opportunities, it’s important to use your mentorship network to keep progressing toward your career goals. As you develop your professional network, recruit strong, collegial collaborators and develop trusting relationships in your team. Remember that you do not have to do it all yourself. Let others know of your successes in research, teaching, innovative clinical practice, and service. If you are hesitant to highlight your work, find a champion who will promote your work.

Currently, Sketris is a retired professor at the Dalhousie University College of Pharmacy, supporting and mentoring colleagues who are developing their research programs. What a fantastic example of giving back to the profession!