Episode #5: McMaster BScPA Q&A with Toni and Shada
Many students begin their undergraduate degrees believing the only path into medicine is becoming a physician. For Toni and Shada, discovering the Physician Assistant profession came later through conversations with mentors, shadowing experiences, and honest self-reflection about what they wanted from a healthcare career.
We learn from them that meaningful preparation for PA school is less about accumulating the perfect resume and more about understanding your motivations, developing interpersonal skills, and reflecting on experiences that shape how you work with others.
You don’t need the perfect resume for PA school. You need meaningful experiences you can reflect on.”
Key Takeaways
There is no “perfect” undergraduate degree for PA school. Students from different academic backgrounds can succeed. Choosing subjects you enjoy often leads to stronger engagement and better reflection.
Reflection matters more than resume-building. Experiences become meaningful when you can explain what you learned from them and how they shaped your communication, leadership, and teamwork skills.
Non-clinical experiences are valuable. Leadership roles, summer jobs, volunteering, and teamwork experiences can be just as impactful as clinical exposure.
Problem-based learning builds clinical reasoning early. Learning through patient cases encourages deeper understanding and mirrors real healthcare collaboration.
