For many of us September, more than January, marks the beginning of a new year. Even if you are not returning to school, the feeling of September is unmistakable. At the University of Toronto the bustle, noise, and activity totally envelope and pervade the institution, signaling another beginning and punctuating our consciousness with the reminder that time does indeed fly. For students at the Faculty of Pharmacy, September represents another starting gate. As they move through the challenge of their academic program most will cross the finish line in May and successfully complete another leg of the journey toward graduation.
Progress requires hard work, dedication, and planning.
It seems to me that our profession could benefit from similar, regular re-grouping and planning to move systematically forward. For students the goal of graduation is clear. For the profession the goal toward which we are moving is not as clear. Dean Norman Hughes in 1968 warned pharmacists that our profession was facing 'the eleventh hour'. Now close to thirty years later, with the luxury of plentiful resources a fading memory, pharmacy has no time to waste.