Nesé Yuksel, division chair and associate professor
Nesé Yuksel has the best of both worlds. As a clinical researcher and associate professor, she is passionate about educating pharmacy students. She also excels as a clinical pharmacist on a health-care team at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.
She was recently recognized for her clinical work by being named the 2016 Canadian Pharmacist of the Year by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. The award will be given out June 25 at the Association's national conference in Calgary.
"I'm humbled to receive this award," says Yuksel. "I feel the award is a result of being able to collaborate with both my academic and clinical colleagues, really. There have been so many people that have contributed to my career in both settings.
Currently, Yuksel is the division chair of Pharmacy Practice and an associate professor at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. One day a week, she also practices on an interdisciplinary team at the Menopause Clinic at Lois Hole Hospital for Women. She is also a proud University of Alberta alumna (BScPharm '88).
Yuksel says keeping her feet in both the clinical research and academic practice settings makes her a better professor and clinician.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," she says. "I bring my clinical practice learnings into the classroom so students can benefit from real life, practical experiences. If I didn't practice on the clinical side, I would lose that usable knowledge I bring to the classroom. I can also bring questions I have as a clinician back to the university for research, so it's a true benefit to be doing both. When I teach, I use stories from my clinic because students expect that real world believability and practicality."
Yuksel points to a Chinese proverb which summarizes her approach to teaching but also her reason to continue practicing in a clinic.
"Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice."
- Xunzi, Chinese proverb
"I keep in in my teaching dossier and it really sums up my teaching philosophy," she says. "it brings everything back full circle, my teaching to my clinic and my clinic learnings back to my students."
Practicing in the area of women's health and osteoporosis for more than 17 years, Yuksel is a recognized expert in her field, combining her clinical interests and practice-based research to develop innovative techniques to enhance the way pharmacists practice.
She feels fortunate that her clinical practice stimulates research ideas and has provided opportunities to collaborate with other women's health clinicians and researchers. She has led and collaborated on a wide-range of research projects, and is excited about her research team's current study on decision-making in women who have had early surgical menopause. The work was made possible through funding from the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute as a clinical seed grant.
"There's a lot of misinformation about menopause and hormone therapy out there and I feel that we need to provide women with balanced, evidence based information that is tailored for them. Understanding what women need is the first step," she says.
In her clinical practice at the menopause clinic at the LHHW, Dr. Yuksel works alongside a physician, a nurse, a gynecologist and a dietician to develop care plans that best suit the needs of women as they transition through menopause. This includes patient assessment, education, treatment and follow-up.
"I bring my clinical practice learnings into the classroom so students can benefit from real life, practical experiences."
- Nesé Yuksel
"I love working with patients in the clinic," says Yuksel. "We have women who have suffered so much with symptoms that have really impacted their lives. It feels so rewarding to see these women empowered to make the best decisions for themselves. I really feel as a team we make a difference in their care."
One of the first 15 pharmacists in Alberta to receive Additional Prescribing Authority (APA) in 2007, Yuksel has been a vocal advocate for advanced pharmacy practice, making significant contributions over the past decade through committees, publications and interviews in support of APA. She has turned her passion for the evolving role of pharmacists into evidence by collaborating on research on pharmacist prescribing, as well as developing tools to support pharmacists in practice.
Having the opportunity to work in the clinical and academic settings has allowed Yuksel to achieve a lot in her career. "The pharmacy field has been very good to me because I saw so much opportunity when I started out - you just need to look for that opportunity and be open to whatever comes your way. There is such a diversity of opportunities in our field."
The Canadian Pharmacist of the Year Award is given annually to recognize a pharmacist who demonstrates leadership and exemplifies the evolution of the pharmacy profession toward an expanded role in health care.