Meet Brian Thiessen, pharmacist, St. Mary’s Hospital
March 27, 2025
By Cindy Lieu, senior advisor, communications and issues management
Brian Thiessen’s heart is in rural Alberta. A pharmacist at St. Mary’s Hospital in Camrose, he enjoys working in rural communities, where he has the chance to get to know his patients better. Personal connection makes a difference for him and for his patients.
“You know a lot of the people personally, or their families, when you’re in a small town, not just on a pharmacy level or professionally. It helps me care for them when they’re more than a patient.”
Born on a farm outside Tofield, Brian lives in rural Alberta and has worked in rural health care at Covenant Health facilities since 2020. At the start of his career, he worked at Killam Health Centre. He’s even covered positions remotely at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital and Bonnyville Health Centre.
Brian enjoys the variety he finds in the work he’s doing. There’s something new every day, and opportunities to collaborate with different teams — the cancer clinic, surgical teams and general medicine — are part of a normal shift for him at St. Mary’s Hospital.
"Working at Covenant Health has been rewarding, and it’s interesting to learn from the different departments, the different professions and everyone working together to find the best solution for the patients."
Pharmacist, St. Mary's Hospital
When asked about his most memorable or rewarding experience as a pharmacist, Brian speaks about giving back to his profession by training and serving as a mentor to pharmacy students. He’s guided students and internationally trained pharmacists throughout his career, both while working at various healthcare facilities and as the owner of two pharmacies. He takes pride in seeing those students grow into successful pharmacists, he says.
Brian’s advice for someone thinking about going into pharmacy, or studying to be a pharmacist, is to be open to the variety of opportunities available, from employment in retail to jobs with drug companies and hospitals and everything in between. He sees value in being a pharmacist and does whatever possible to improve patient care. Patients are the people who matter, he says.
“You might not know it in the moment, but you are making a difference. When patients come back to thank you, even for little things you don’t remember, that really means a lot.”