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MHA Alumni, Shawn Sangha (Class of 2020)
The health-care sector is vast, comprising of public and private sectors. Shawn Sangha says his studies with the MHA helped him understand how the two intersect, and how important it is to remain focused on patient care.
“At the end of the day, the patient is in the centre of the circle and whether in public or private, you still have the same patient to deal with,” he said.
As National Pharmacy Operations Manager with Telus, Sangha is spearheading a new nationwide pharmacy initiative. His job is to use the latest technology – from robotic equipment to software for pharmacy dispensing – to create operating efficiencies. He also works with internal and external partners to avoid drug supply chain disruptions.
He says the MHA helped him broaden his skillset to include finance, change management, and quality assurance.
It also gave him the tools to recruit a broad range of staff, including roles – such as information technology and marketing – that lie outside his area of expertise.
“It helped with finding the right people for the right fit for different roles,” he said.
Sangha started his career as a pharmacist, working at London Drugs for a number of years.
Although he is now a senior manager who deals with issues on a national scale, he remains at his core a pharmacist. He says the MHA has made him a better one, as it exposed him to a broad cross-section of health-care professions. The strength of the program, he says, is in the diversity of students in the cohort.
“In the MHA there are people from different backgrounds and you learn together and you can network together,” he said. “When I came out of it, I found I was a more well-rounded pharmacist than I was two years before going into the course.”
I went back to school after graduating more than 20 years ago and many of the students were half my age! I had a good chuckle, felt “old,” but ultimately enjoyed learning, becoming colleagues and now good friends with many of these bright minds of the future!
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