Pharmacy alumnus and former Golden Bears Football player works to give back

Alumnus and generous supporter of the Faculty, Jerry Saik, is familiar with the struggles that can accompany attaining a university education. Now he's dedicated to supporting pharmacy student athletes and giving them the opportunity to shine.

Originally published in the Fall 2019 issue of The Mortar & Pestle.

The student experience has evolved immensely over the last 100 years with tuition increases, the advancement of technology, and ever-growing specifications within disciplines. In pharmacy, the evolving role of practice creates a vast variety of roles for pharmacists to take on. One thing that hasn’t changed? The stress and pressure that comes with being a university student.

Alumnus and generous supporter of the Faculty, Jerry Saik (BSc 1971, BScPharm 1974), is familiar with the struggles that can accompany attaining a university education. Coming from a low-income household of five brothers and a single mother in the 1960s and early ‘70s, he supported himself through six years at the University of Alberta, first to get a Bachelor of Science with a focus on biological and physiological sciences and then to receive his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. All the while, he was also a dedicated and successful student athlete playing for the Golden Bears Football team.

“When I was growing up, we had no money,” says Saik. “I hate to say that we were raised in poverty, but we were. For university I would be working for only three or four months of the year to support myself during school. But when you are in university for six years like that, you eventually start falling backwards.” 

The Golden Bears Football team were defending National College Bowl champions when Saik started university and joined the team in 1968 as a defensive end. In 1972, they were national champions again. These victories meant some funds were available for team meals and extra sustenance. He relied heavily on these and Friday night dinners at his mom’s throughout his time in school. But in between the big wins those football funds dried up, and he was not the only person that struggled. 

“I remember one year there was guy who collapsed on the field. Our trainer Ray Kelly recognized he was in need and took him out for a meal,” says Saik. “I wasn’t quite that bad, but eventually I was eating soup and crackers.” As for alternate sources of income like awards and scholarships aimed at student athletes, there were very few, if any, at the time.

“My emphasis for what I do is recognizing what I personally experienced in the past,” says Saik of his philanthropy. He has his own foundation, the Saik Family Foundation, which has supported the Golden Bear Alumni Football Scholarship Program, Adopt-an-Athlete program, and Bears Education and Tutoring Program for the last 20 years as well as a large endowment that generates around $4,000 a year for student athletes in the pharmacy program called The Jerry Saik and Family Athletics and Pharmacy Award. He’s also treasurer and active member of EdPharm Partnership, a group of 36 independent pharmacies that strive to develop working and social relationships with pharmacy owners and family, pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, and other pharmacy-related companies.

Saik says that current Golden Bears Football coach and former Edmonton Eskimo, Chris Morris, has a focus that he can really get behind. “Chris is willing to re-catch the glory of the old days, but he also wants to give the student athletes the ability to excel academically,” says Saik. “When he started, there were one or two guys that were All-Canadian academic athletes. Last year, there were 22 of them! It’s amazing how valuing and enforcing educational study and community involvement can motivate student athletes to excel. More than 30 of them had GPAs over 3.0 and a 95 per cent retention rate. So that’s why I do what I do.” Under this leadership Saik says the Bears are having a better time recruiting football players, too, even though U of A athletics has less funding than other universities across Canada. “With the emphasis on education and a good football program, people are foregoing some of these other big team offers for the balance that is available here.”

Beyond his passion for athletics, Saik’s past is also rooted in rural pharmacy practice. After his graduation in 1974, he spent three years working with Stan Lissack (BSc Pharm 1958)an active member of the Canadian pharmacy profession who introduced Saik to its innovators and motivatorsin Daysland, Alberta, a small town about 140 km from Edmonton with a population of around 800. 

During his first years, Saik also worked with the local hospital supervising pharmacy needs, reviewing patient charts, and even going on medical rounds with the doctors. After breaking off on his own for a few years, he ultimately returned to Daysland to run, and eventually buy, Daysland Pharmacy. During his period of ownership, Saik and fellow pharmacist Mark Badry—who bought the pharmacy from Saik with his wife, Mary Jane Badry, a registered pharmacy technician, in December 2015 when Saik was in pre-retirement—provided supervisory pharmacy services to Daysland Hospital as well as Killam, Hardisty and Galahad for a five-year period. The duo also re-introduced daily medical rounds in Daysland and weekly pharmacy reviews in the other centres. 

Upon his return in 1988, Saik was driven towards dedicating his practice to patient care. “We ensured that everyone was personally greeted and acknowledged when they arrived in the pharmacy. It develops loyalty, and pharmacists have a mandate to develop trust, professionalism, and positive relationships.” Four years after his retirement, his dedication to his patients is evident, as each and every person we passed—customer or employee—greeted Saik by name and vice versa as we toured the new Daysland facilities.

“Working within this environment, in a rural community, you get to know everybody and it gives you the ability to really help them,” says Saik. “We would stay open past what our regular hours were when it was -30 or -40, just waiting for the last patient to come out of the clinic down the street.” Patients come to Daysland from Camrose, Hardisty, Forestburg, Tofield, Holden, and many other places. If they went to the doctor and the pharmacist was closed after their appointment, that’s a much bigger inconvenience than in the city. “It wasn’t just about my hours. It was always about caring about the patient,” says Saik. “We stayed until the last person was served.”

In 1991, Saik bought the pharmacy alongside his wife, Diane, who was born and raised in Daysland. In 2012, they took the lead on a full renovation that included a brand-new pharmacy addition with private clinical service areas, offices, and a city-worthy front store operation. On behalf of the Daysland Hospital Foundation, Saik facilitated the building of a new full-scale, state-of-the-art, naturally lighted medical clinic that boasts large physician exam rooms with capacity for at least five physicians, readiness for electronic medical records, private treatment rooms, and a separate area for physiotherapy. The front store, pharmacy, and medical clinic building are all seamlessly attached and span nearly half the length of the Daysland main street.

“This medical clinic and pharmacy is one of the very best ones in the province. It gives physicians the excellent working environment that they wanted to practice in and space for every type of patient to receive the care they need,” says Saik. The pharmacists, physicians, and registered technicians all work collaboratively to serve patients, including those living in the life lease-extended care building in town.

“Since I’m a rural pharmacist, I recognize that a lot of the students aren’t coming to rural areas because they are not familiar with rural lifestyles and relocating can be challenging,” says Saik. “But rural pharmacy is where things happen. You’re in a small community where you know everybody, and the opportunity to learn and advance your career is tremendous.” This is why he has started a new endowment with the Faculty, Saik Family Foundation Rural Pharmacy Fund, to support and incentivize students to take placements in rural communities. 

“The main thing is that I lived through a tough time in university, and I want to allow students to actualize on their potential with an expectation that they will raise the bar, and this is a way I can pay it forward,” says Saik. “I want to give back because pharmacy has been good to me. I haven’t had an easy life financially, and I want to make other’s lives easier whether it’s students or my patients. I hope they can give back to others when they are able to as well.”