Eric, McMaster PA-S1
Eric’s Pre-PA Stats
Accepted:
McMaster PA Education Program
GPA:
3.84 out of 4.0 on OMSAS
Education:
Specialized Honours in Biomedical Sciences @ York University
Fun Facts about Eric:
Favourite class in undergrad: Organic Chemistry
Favourite Author: P.G. Wodehouse
Favourite Sports: Biking, Mixed Martial Arts, Basketball, Swimming
Medical Specialties of Interest: Plastics/Dermatology and Emergency Medicine
No Health care experience
Why I decided to pursue the PA profession
Below are a few of the reasons I chose to become a PA (this list isn’t exhaustive):
Life-long Learning: As a PA, you are constantly learning new things whether from work, self-study, CME, or colleagues. This provides endless opportunities for professional development. As someone who loves learning and being challenged, this aspect of the profession is appealing.
Lateral Mobility: Medicine is a broad field. The PA profession allows one to practice in different clinical settings and medical specialties without the need for additional training. Having the ability to seamlessly transition between medical specialties was a major draw for me.
Flexibility: There is a ton of flexibility within the PA profession. This includes different types of work schedules such as FT, PT, Per Diem, etc. There is also a great degree of geographic flexibility and this will only increase as more provinces and territories embrace the PA profession.
Employability & Positive Career Outlook: With the growing shortage of HCPs, ageing population, and low risk of automation, I think we’ll see an increasing demand for PAs in the future.
Building Relationship with Patients: Being a PA allows you to form meaningful connections with your patients.
Increasing access to quality care: PAs help increase access to care by reducing wait times, decreasing physician burnout, working with underserved communities, and reducing healthcare costs, among other things.
My tips for Canadian Pre-PA Applicants
The best advice I can give for admissions is, to be honest, and open about who you are and what motivated you to choose PA. Moreover, it’s important to be knowledgeable about what’s going on in healthcare and how PAs fit into that.
You must be able to articulate to the admissions committee that you understand the role of a PA.
Lastly, this goes without saying but practice makes perfect. When writing your personal statement or preparing for interviews practice and revision are your best friends.
There are a lot of fantastic online pre-PA resources (Youtube, blogs, forums, books, articles) out there. Utilize them and do so often!
“Getting into PA school is an arduous journey and things may not work out the first time around but as the saying goes “Nothing good comes easy”. Success is not linear!”
