PA students steeped in health-care experience

If Christopher Abbey and Bonnie Lynn Young are any indication of the quality of students enrolled in the University of Toronto-led physician assistant (PA) program, Ontario patients have nothing to be concerned about.

Abbey, a resident of Thunder Bay, is a Registered Nurse with three Bachelor of Science degrees and a Masters degree in Parasitology. Originally from Ghana in West Africa, Abbey attended high school and university in England and came to Canada in 1991.

He boasts a BSc in Microbiology and Biochemistry from the University of London, a Masters from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Diseases, another BSc in Microbiology from the University of Saskatchewan and a nursing degree from Lakehead University.

Prior to entering the PA program operated by the University of Toronto, the Michener Institute of Applied Health Sciences and Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), he worked as an RN in Thunder Bay and was a lecturer in Microbiology at NOSM.

The PA program appealed to him, he said, because of the opportunity for growth, the variety of work and the prospect of being part of a collaborative practice.

Bonnie Young, a resident of Sudbury, has an equally impressive resumé, having worked as a paramedic for 20 years. An accident cut short her career, so the PA program offered her an opportunity to apply her experience in a less physically demanding health-care role.

Young has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gerontology from Laurentian University, and certificates from Cambrian College's paramedic program and Seneca College's aeromedical program.

The shortage of primary care physicians in Northern Ontario and the looming retirement wave of baby boomers creates a need for health-care professionals able to fill the gap, she said.

"As a paramedic, I saw the shortcomings in the medical system and, as a patient, I felt them even more."

PAs will be able to reduce wait times and help patients access primary care, she said.

"The program is really intense, but it's challenging and exciting. I'm just humbled and honoured to be part of it."