Tech masters the challenges of change

A series of diverse roles over the years has led hospital pharmacy technician Jamie Burkett to a unique—and challenging—position as an operations manager for a new distribution facility in Edmonton scheduled to open in 2027. “I’m leading the readiness and implementation stream of the project, which is part of a broader transformation effort,” she explains. “We’re aiming at modernizing and centralizing pharmacy distribution and operations for the North sector of our province. I help guide the transition to a centralized distribution model, making sure that the teams, the systems, and the sites are prepared for the change.” That includes designing workflows, supporting documentation, developing a training program for future staff, working with the new software system, and collaborating with a range of partners, among other responsibilities. She credits the experience she gained at University of Alberta Hospital, where she worked after graduation in 2003, with kickstarting her unconventional career path. “I was given opportunities to work on many projects there,” she says, including roles in education, compounding, research, purchasing and as an implementation lead for Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) launch of Connect Care, the province’s electronic health record. Seventeen years later, she moved to zone quality assurance lead for AHS’s Edmonton Zone, and a year after that, assumed a provincial position as a technical practice leader. She landed her current job in early 2025. One of the most rewarding aspects of the role as an operations manager, she notes, is pulling together the disparate pieces of the ongoing project, “helping translate that big-picture plan into something that works in practice." And while there are many challenges along the way, such as evolving timelines and unexpected outcomes during testing, she says this creates opportunities for work culture based on problem-solving and cooperation.Burkett’s contributions in many capacities over the years earned her the Pharmacy Technician Society of Alberta’s (PTSA) Professionalism Award Winner 2025, presented at the association’s annual conference last September. “The Professionalism Award recipient is selected using a scored rubric that evaluates nominees across key areas such as accomplishments, leadership, contributions to the profession, advocacy, and their impact on peers and learners,” explains Sari Jory, PTSA’s chair of the Recognition and Engagement Committee that selects the winner. “Reviewers assess how clearly each nominee demonstrates excellence in these areas and rate them based on the strength of the evidence provided. The nominee with the strongest overall demonstration of professionalism is chosen, and Jamie’s consistent demonstration of these qualities in her daily work made her an outstanding and unquestionably deserving choice.""Over the course of her career, Jamie has contributed to enhancing the role of pharmacy technicians and assistants, inspired her peers to raise standards and advance their practice, supported the educational and professional development needs of her colleagues, and consistently demonstrated that she a strong, engaging leader,” said one of her nominators.Burkett confesses she was “genuinely surprised” at receiving the Award. “I felt there are deserving people who are doing exceptional work across the profession, so I was incredibly honored and humbled just to be recognized by my peers.”She continues to hone her skills and broaden her knowledge, completing a project management certificate and, most recently, a change management certification program, an area in which she has a strong interest. “The system integration and leading our team through some of the complex and evolving environments is something I enjoy and want to develop further,” she says. “I would like to build my expertise in supporting them through the change. I have been part of implementation teams in the past, but never in a formal leadership role in fostering engagement with people who are part of the change to translate the complex system changes into practical workflows.”The pharmacy profession is, after all, constantly evolving. “Every day is a learning opportunity,” says Burkett. “With the technological advancements, there is so much that pharmacy technicians are involved with today than when I entered into practice.” To help new technicians learn to adapt to an ever-changing work environment, she suggests they “take the time to understand the ‘why’ behind what they’re doing and not just the steps.”And don’t be afraid to embrace new challenges, she urges. “For me, the most valuable growth came from stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying different things.”

Tech masters the challenges of change

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