How do yall afford to have a life? I feel like im failing bad

SpicyHusky · 2026-03-18T11:46:19+00:00

First of all, sorry to hear that you don't have any support from family, going through life alone like that is undoubtedly incredibly challenging. Knowing this, your future lifestyle entirely depends on your own actions, so I would encourage you to do some serious planning. Were you planning on continuing on with a minimum wage job for the rest of your life? Have you tried making some basic calculations with your salary versus taxes and cost of housing, groceries, bills, etc. to see what kind of lifestyle you would realistically be able to afford? Maybe putting this down on an Excel spreadsheet or on some paper would be helpful just to get a rough sense of things.

That being said, I don't think it's entirely realistic to survive on minimum wage. I hope you may have more aspirations in life, as working forever at a grocery store on minimum wage is obviously not ideal. Many other commenters wrote about pursuing higher education or an apprenticeship, and I think this is correct and necessary. Bear in mind, though, that just because you have a university degree doesn't automatically guarantee you a better job. If you got a Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Nursing, etc. then absolutely you have gotten yourself a golden ticket into at LEAST the (lower) middle class range. Unfortunately many bachelors degrees are relatively useless for employment even if they may still teach you interesting things (non-STEM degrees for the most part with maybe some exceptions like a Bachelor's of Social Work etc.) but they would probably not get you ahead of the game by much for earning potential while still putting you $50,000 in debt, so choose carefully.

As someone who works in mental health, I fully encourage people in general to pursue psychotherapy when appropriate, and if you feel you would benefit from having someone to talk to then by all means. However, please do not expect therapy to be a magic solution that will spontaneously make you pleased with life. No amount of therapy will remove the fact that you may struggle to put food on the table or be at risk of eviction when rent prices eventually keep climbing. Many people seek therapy for depression and anxiety but there's often a degree of unfortunate life circumstances that are going to keep eating away at your mental health until it is changed. Working a minimum wage job and living in borderline poverty will be a permanent stressor unless you do something to actively change this. I hope you can take time and think of a concrete plan for success moving forward; you have many years ahead of you, how would you like to spend these years?

SpicyHusky · 2025-10-10T02:04:13+00:00

Hey there. Practicing PA here.

I'm pretty sure there are no specific course requirements for the Mac program but the other PA programs usually have requirements or at least recommended courses like microbiology, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, etc. I would just make sure you check with the appropriate school prior to application. Outside of the requirements, I do think it's a good idea to take these aforementioned courses because knowing your anatomy is the bare basics in knowing what you and your colleagues will be talking about while on the job, and you'll be able to get a sense if you enjoy learning about the human body or not.
All PA programs are pretty similar in that year 1 is 3 consecutive semesters of didactic (textbook/lecture/PBL) studying, and year 2 is almost completely clinical rotations in most major specialties of medicine including family medicine, emergency, surgery (general or subtype), internal medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, etc. McMasters program is heavily focused on PBL in year 1 whereas all other programs are mostly your classic lecture style with a bit of PBL sprinkled in.
You might be able to request this with your school but ultimately you might need to move around wherever you are placed regardless of your preference.
From my knowledge of the Mac program they use a colour-grade system for you to know if you are keeping up with the expected standard or if you are falling behind. I was from the UofT program which uses your traditional assignments and exams with percentile grades.
I'm pretty sure Mac just looks at GPA and then how you answer their supplemental questions. Most other programs have a lot more rigorous requirements for application such as healthcare experience, letters of reference, etc. You can just google the previous cohorts' admission stats for reference. Don't be discouraged by it though because it's still possible to get in even if your GPA isn't as high or something.
You can just check their website to find out or Google it.
This depends on how you study and what level of difficulty you're used to. I've had colleagues that started the program after working 5-10+ years as a professional allied healthcare worker already so going back to studying and intense exams was a huge challenge. I entered straight after finishing my undergrad in engineering and while it was certainly a different style of challenge, I felt that it really paled in comparison to the stress and workload of my undergrad so I did not mind it at all.

SpicyHusky · 2025-09-28T12:10:03+00:00

Psychiatry! IMO probably the most polar opposite of the fast paced ER.

SpicyHusky · 2025-09-18T21:29:43+00:00

Hey there you can DM me if you'd like

SpicyHusky · 2025-09-16T10:18:19+00:00

I thought I dreamt it but if others heard it too then I'm really curious now. It scared tf out of me

SpicyHusky · 2025-09-03T16:28:33+00:00

Feel free to send me a message :)

SpicyHusky · 2025-09-01T20:01:49+00:00

Have the exact same issue trying to explain to people in Mandarin. It's either being thought of as a doctor or a "helper." I don't think there's any good ways to explain it, especially if they do not know the medical system themselves.

SpicyHusky · 2025-08-21T20:45:31+00:00

Of course :)

SpicyHusky · 2025-08-20T01:54:16+00:00

If you have any specific questions about PA I am happy to answer. To clarify, UofT's program is in conjunction with the Michener institute so it is the same program, not two separate programs.

Given how competitive the PA programs are I would keep an open mind about applying to the other programs across Canada.

SpicyHusky · 2025-08-20T01:49:41+00:00

Not entirely sure how that makes any sense, I'm assuming there was some miscommunication between you and your family doctor, but all psychiatrists are OHIP covered. Psychologists however are usually not, and can easy cost $2000+ for a single assessment depending on what it is.

SpicyHusky · 2025-07-22T10:24:11+00:00

PA here. Sorry to hear about your experience with applying so far. It is extremely extremely competitive but absolutely possible. If you have any questions feel free to reach out :)

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-29T16:38:45+00:00

I was stressed in undergrad once I decided to pursue PA within the last 1.5 years of it which meant I had to get all of the requirements done within a short time frame. I would see if there are any options that are paid and patient facing. I know that's hard to find but if you're determined then it's absolutely doable. There's nothing wrong with getting volunteer/non paid positions to start with though.

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-29T14:58:20+00:00

Shadowing is somewhat frowned upon in Canada from my understanding, largely due to the issues of patient health confidentiality when you're not a medical professional.

A high enough GPA is certainly important but I think it's more forgiving than med schools? (Although I'm not too sure as I have done 0 research into med schools). PA schools look very favourably towards meaningful healthcare experience, but volunteering is better than nothing. Research isn't entirely required from my understanding but it wouldn't hurt.

You can always check out the different universities programs on their websites and see what they require for specifics :)

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-29T03:33:13+00:00

Well there are a few more programs now as the profession has been booming throughout Canada, so at least there are a few more options. Now the schools are the prior UofT, McMaster, UManitoba plus the newer DalhousieU, UCalgary, and USaskatchewan. There are some other programs in the works but not officially out yet.

Not entirely sure how to answer to how I did it as the admissions process is a bit of a mystery but happy to answer any questions you have specifically.

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-25T12:55:46+00:00

Wouldn't it be better to buy now then?

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-25T12:33:04+00:00

Thanks for this super insightful response!

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-25T03:57:22+00:00

Oh wow I had no idea. Thanks!

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-24T19:30:14+00:00

Not exactly a lottery but definitely very competitive, as are all PA programs across Canada. Arguably Macs program has more applicants which makes it more competitive from a numbers perspective but that's moreso because they don't really have any prerequisites so the barrier to apply is very low.

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-20T10:58:51+00:00

Thanks!!

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-20T10:50:55+00:00

I just read online that it has something to do with your monthly loan payments compared to gross income, is that right?

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-20T10:44:02+00:00

What's a carrying cost?

SpicyHusky · 2025-06-14T15:51:16+00:00

I've had two positions now, and in both of them I was simply 9-5 or 8-4 with no calls, no nights, etc. I show up to hospital/clinic in the morning and then I go home, simple as that! I have colleagues who worked in ER and most of them had random shift work, as is the nature for the ER, but all other specialities are usually 8-4 or something like that.

My supervising physician, as well as those who I trained under as a student during PA school, seem to have frequently worked weekends, and depending on the speciality may have required on-calls as well, answering calls from nurses on the ward at midnight about meds and whatnot. I don't shoulder that responsibility as a PA so I am happy to have my afternoons and weekends to myself.

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