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f it truly takes someone IwiLh a vision of the possiâ€" ble to attain new levels of experience â€" someone with the courage to live his dreams â€" _ then Jake Thiessen is the right man for this job. UW‘s new School of Pharmacy will help transform provincial health care While most of his friends are slowing down as they head _ for _ retirement, Thiessen, 61, is busier than ever, putting his vision into action as the founding director of the University of Wateriog‘s (UW| new School of Pharmacy, slated to begin construction shortly on the former Epton lands at the corner of King and Victoria Streets in downtown Kitchâ€" ener. The school, which will be affiliated with the Leslie L. Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, where Thiessen is an associâ€" ate dean, is slated to enroll its first students for Septemâ€" ber 2007. "It‘s kind of a joke among my friends," said Thiessen. sipping a coffee recently in the uptown Waterloo hotel that doubles as his home away from home. "I had a sense that this project would be rather demanding. and it really has been, but if I had known just how busy I would be. I would still have done it. 1 am extremely impressed with UW and I‘m absolutely thrilled to be a part of this." Thiessen was chosen last fall to lead the UW project that will be the first phase of the university‘s eventual Health Sciences campus. a campus he sees great things for in the future. Seeing the possibilities for the future is Thiessen‘s strong point. That, and the passion that lights him up when he talks about creatâ€" ing what will undoubtedly be one of the top pharmaâ€" ceutical schools in the nation â€" perhaps on the continent â€" part of an eventual health sciences By Jana Mitier For The Chronicle campus destined itself to be a knowledge powerhouse for research in various healthâ€"related disciplines and a leader in working towards "an integrated world of care" in Canada. The best in Canada Increasingly, Thiessen is devoting more and more of his time to the establishâ€" ment of the UW School of Pharmacy. He‘s had to let go of a few things, including his pending relief from the associate dean‘s position in Toronto, to be able to fully devote his passion to the grand plans he has for the campus. "This kind of opportunity doesn‘t come along very often. This is only the secâ€" ond such school in Canada in 60 years, so this truly is an opportunity of a lifetime," said Thiessen with a smile. "So when they approached me and ultimately asked me how good I want this new school to be, I said: ‘I want it to be the best.‘ That‘s my modus operandi. I want this place to be a landmark school of pharmacy." The goal, said Thiessen. is that it be no less than the University of Toronto‘s renowned Leslie Dan Faculâ€" ty of Pharmacy, long considâ€" ered among the best in Canada. "Initially it was to be a satellite campus of the U of T. but that would have been too complicated. I deterâ€" mined early on that, in the best interests of all, it should be a standâ€"alone School of Pharmacy. However, we want to create a coâ€"operaâ€" tive pharmaceutical ‘zone between Toronto and Kitchâ€" ener. We‘ll have 240 pharâ€" macy spots in Toronto and 120 in Kitchener. People will see these sister institutions admitting 360 students each year â€" that‘s unheard of in North America. There will certainly be no other place in Canada that can match that and no other place that can match the number of graduate students {(more CITY NEWS "And I have the privilege of starting the dream,." he said. "When I was in school, I had a professor who advised me that if 1 was going to go to graduate school, I should go to the very best one, because that‘s a reputation that follows you all your life. This is going to be one of those schools. This is where T‘H have to use my connections because I want to have a faculty for this school that is just stelar." The UW School and Health Sciences campus will be a "powerhouse", said Thiessen, admitting that‘s the dream he‘s carrving forâ€" ward as the project gets underway. than 200) â€" we between the two." It‘s all part of the dream for Thiessen. And it‘s not just a dream about creating one of the country‘s finest schools of pharmacy from scratch; it also has a lot to do with simply making a differâ€" ence in health care. Thiessen‘s vision for the UW School of Pharmacy extends far bevond great academic minds and a stateâ€"ofâ€"theâ€"art building reflective of a leading school of pharmacy; it extends to making health care in Ontario â€" and the nation â€" the best it can be. "I want to make a differâ€" ence in health care. We‘ve taken some bold steps here and one is now beginning to develop and that is the dream of having an integratâ€" ed primary care clinic," said Thiessen. "This is very excitâ€" ing because this piece of the dream is at the heart of where health care is going in the future." What Thiessen is talking about is the vision he, other health professionals, and the provincial government share for an "integrated world of care," where instead of the normal rouâ€" tine of having one‘ doctor examine patients and make decisions, teams of doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health care profesâ€" sionals work together to treat the whole person. The collective expertise of several professionals would be utilized to deterâ€" mine everything from the diagnosis to the treatment process for each patient. "The way we currently do things in terms of treating patients has a lot of drawâ€" backs," said Thiessen. "As it is now, this system conâ€" dones inefficiency, treatâ€" ments are duplicated from one physician to the next and it is the patient who is not being served well." Thiessen and his colâ€" leagues are working towards developing a solution that, if it comes to fruition, will put the UW School of Pharmacy, and the eventual health sciâ€" ences campus, at the foreâ€" front of developing the healthâ€"care system of tomorrow. Provided that funding is forthcoming, the new School of Pharmacy, will include a primary inteâ€" grated care facility, where family medical practitionâ€" ers, pharmacists in training and other health professionâ€" als â€" including physiotherâ€" apists, psychologists, social workers and the like â€" would participate in "experiâ€" ential learning" in the forâ€" wardâ€"thinking integrated setting. "We have an opportunity here to have a major impact on the future of future 565 King St. N. @ Northfleld in GTO Gas Bar » www.otwireless.ca â€" health professionals and the direction of health care in general," said Thiessen adding that the new clinic would bring opportunities students can‘t get anywhere else, as well as brand new research possibilities. Hopes for the clinic â€" which could open as early as 2008 â€" are for a facility of at least 30,000 square feet that would house as many as 12 family medicine practitionâ€" ers and other professionals. Local residents beset by problems finding a family doctor â€" there are some 50,000 residents in the area who currently do not have a family doctor â€" would immediately have access to a new clinic with several doctors â€" and, best of all, a brand new way of looking at health care. "This is undeniably a huge opportunity to get involved with some leading edge stuff," said Thiessen. "Wherever I go and talk about the dream for this clinic, people are excited. My goal is to make it hapâ€" pen and, until someone stands in my way and says it can‘t be done, we‘re going to continue to pursue this dream. If we can make this happen, we can create an absolutely phenomenal school of pharmacy." Working on partnerships Thiessen and his colâ€" leagues are currently pursuâ€" ing opportunities for private partnership and governâ€" ment funding for the inteâ€" grated primary care clinic and working with the proâ€" ject‘s architect on the overall design of the new school of pharmacy. "I‘m only here until about 2007. My job is about making sure the building is finished. 1 will also recruit the initial faculty and try to establish the path on which the school will grow," said Thiessen. "I have a lot of ideas for the school. I‘m really limited only. by money. and T am looking to solve that obstacle." s â€" 880+â€"1477 7 TELUVS PUS Biacxterry. Paim & Oata