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Dr. Cassandra McLelland says she considers herself “very lucky” to be able to spend up to an hour at a time with her patients.
As a Clinical Pharmacist in the Centre for Complex Diabetes Care (CCDC) at Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness (Peel Memorial), she said this dedicated one-on-one time gives her the opportunity to build trust and connection with patients who come to the CCDC for specialized care to help manage their diabetes.
You don’t need to spend much time with Cassandra to realize it is her patients and colleagues who are truly the lucky ones.
Cassandra is Osler’s 2024-25 Values Champion for Respect—recognition given to an Osler team or team member who creates community and belonging by embracing open and honest communication and always treating others as they themselves wish to be treated.
Cassandra’s role involves working together with adult patients diagnosed with Type 1 or 2 diabetes, and her interprofessional colleagues, to develop a treatment plan that aligns with the patients’ specific preferences and values.
And that always starts with a conversation. “I’m a big proponent of shared decision making, of sitting down with a patient and asking them: ‘What do you want and need from us?’ ‘How can we help support you to get to where you want to be and to meet your goals?’ ‘Are there any barriers for you to achieve these goals?’”, explains Cassandra. “The approach has to be people-centred, and they have to guide their own treatment.”
Cassandra said the most rewarding part of her role is seeing complex patients with multiple co-morbidities “blossom” with the support of the CCDC.
She recalls one newly diagnosed patient who was “very down and lost” when they first came to her. “They were so quiet and reserved when I first saw them, and you could just tell that they were not doing well from a holistic perspective.”
Cassandra and the broader CCDC team worked closely with the patient for the next 12 months, helping to optimize their treatment by listening to what was important to them, which included reducing their needle burden. “The last few times I saw (the patient) before they were discharged, they were in such a good mood, laughing and so happy…they were a completely different person,” she said. “I just remember thinking that this is why what we do is so important and is such a rewarding experience.”
Cassandra also gets a tremendous amount of fulfillment through her involvement as a mentor and preceptor, supporting pharmacy residents and students at Osler, and through her role as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors, Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada, of which she is a founding member.
Advocating for Indigenous patients, at both the individual and system-wide level, is incredibly important to Cassandra, who is Anishinaabe from M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island.
Ensuring people understand and have access to resources on how to provide culturally safe care to Indigenous people is both a priority and passion for Cassandra. “To best serve Indigenous communities and patients, we need to respect their autonomy and cultural values,” she said, noting that this extends beyond pharmacy to all aspects of health care. “You have patients who may have had bad experiences in health care, or who may be guarded because they are worried about discrimination. And you have to work to gain their trust and develop that relationship to the point where they feel like ‘Okay, I can trust you and I know that you will support me and advocate for me.’”
For Cassandra, respect is at the core of everything she does, whether she’s interacting with a colleague, a community partner, a patient, or a family member, and is the key to continuing to inspire meaningful change. “We really can't serve our patients to the best of our ability unless we're a team and we build a community, and we all trust and respect each other,” she said.
As for being Osler’s 2024-25 Values Champion for Respect, Cassandra said she was both surprised and touched by the nomination, which was jointly submitted by Rakhi Goel, Corporate Clinical Pharmacy Manager, and Claudia Summa-Sorgini, Director of Pharmacy, and felt very appreciated walking onto the stage and accepting the award. “It did feel really good to be acknowledged. It's nice to know that others see that (your work) has an impact, and that they feel it's worthy of recognition.”
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