Image: Carmen Pallot, BSc(Pharm)'99
Career/profession
Pharmacist, small business owner, proud mom to three, hemophilia advocate. I also love promoting and supporting the community of Lillooet where I was born and raised. I fill up my cup by practicing yoga and gardening.
What are some accomplishments that you are most proud of?
I have won several pharmacy awards, have run a successful business for over 20 years, and helped organize our local Olympic torch relay. My proudest achievement is raising three kind and compassionate children.
You mentioned that 11 members of your family are pharmacists. How many of them graduated from UBC?
I am the tenth pharmacist in my family and my niece will be the 11th when she graduates from the Entry to Practice PharmD program at UBC in 2022. My brother Chris and my father Bruce both graduated from UBC in 1993 and 1964 respectively. My grandfather Stuart Pallot also received an honorary pharmacy degree from UBC in 1996 during the Faculty's 50th anniversary. Stuart, my grandmother Kathleen, and my great-uncles all graduated from the pharmacy program at UBC prior to the creation of the Faculty in 1946. Prior to that my maternal and paternal great-grandfathers and paternal great great-grandfathers were all educated as chemists in England.
What UBC moment are you still talking about?
Skits night. So much fun!
Who or what has been the biggest influence in your career?
My mom. Although she is not a pharmacist, after my father’s untimely death in 1976 she operated the family pharmacy by hiring a new graduate every year or two. Growing up, we used to joke about being a United Nations pharmacy as we had so many different pharmacists from such a variety of countries and cultures. Through perseverance and determination, my mother kept the pharmacy operating until my graduation in 1999. She taught me to be kind to everyone that I met, even those who weren’t necessarily kind back. The unhappy people were the ones that needed the most love.
What has your experience been as a pharmacists in a small and remote community in BC?
After 22 years I’m happy to say that I still love my job as a pharmacist. It is incredibly rewarding to serve the same community that I was born and raised in and have the opportunity to develop long-term, meaningful relationships with patients. Serving Lillooet and its 7,000 square kilometers trading area allows me to experience an incredible variety of practice challenges and I thrive creating solutions for any problem that I encounter.
Given that many of your patients are Indigenous, is there anything related to cultural safety that is regularly incorporated into your work?
I have learned the words, please (Tth’ihwum) and thank you (Kukwstum’ckacw) in our local Interior Salish language. I didn’t always pronounce them correctly at first, but the elders appreciated my efforts. Listening to patient stories and understanding the importance of incorporating the four segments of the medicine wheel (mental, spiritual, physical and emotional health) into their care has been essential. It is also important to recognize the impact of colonization and intergenerational trauma on patients. Respecting and honouring the use of traditional healing practices and local healers in patient care, and understanding that the goals we have in mind for the patient may be vastly different from the patient’s own goals, is crucial.
How do you support your staff to stay current about the evolving landscape of Indigenous reconciliation and do you have any Indigenous staff?
We listen, learn and spend as much time travelling to surrounding indigenous communities as often as possible. After years of horrors, we must acknowledge reconciliation will not happen overnight, but we all must play a role in the process for it to succeed. Currently, five of my staff are Indigenous and they are an integral part of our team.
Are there any local partners that you work closely with in order to meet the healthcare needs of your patients?
In addition to our local physicians, we work closely with the community office of First Nations Health Authority, our Indigenous Nurse Practitioner, our Jordan’s Principle coordinator and the health care teams at the six Indigenous communities we serve.
I acknowledge that I live, work and play on the unceded ancestral lands of the St’at’imc people. This year, our family pharmacy celebrates 50 years in Lillooet and it would not be possible without the support of our amazing community.