#UofTMed International Student Reflection by Shayan
Shayan Bashir, M.D. M.H.Sc. TRP
As an internationally trained physician with a secure future, moving to Canada was a huge step for Dr. Shayan Bashir. Fueled by his passion to further his education and medical training, he chose a professional program that would allow him to hone his skills and offer him a robust career path. As a first-year student at the Translational Research Program, Shayan reminisces his journey and shares his experience with us.
Chartering New Territories
I am an internationally trained physician who moved to Canada with an intention to seek further medical training and education. Having faced an initial struggle in the healthcare field, I realized that Canadian healthcare is a lot different from Pakistan’s. Then began a search for a robust graduate program that would align with my goals of enhancing my skills as a healthcare professional, while offering me more than just a career path, rather an open and diverse learning framework. Although, one thing was clear – that the program had to be in the faculty of medicine, my area of interest.
Finally, one of my friends who was already enrolled in the TRP prompted me to look into this program. After I researched the Translational Research Program at the University of Toronto, my mind was made. There were a number of things about the TRP which piqued my interest including, the design of experiential learning, non-traditional teaching, collaborative framework, as well as a more open and diverse kind of curriculum. Strategically speaking, it was a risky career move, but for me to learn more effectively, the spirit of the program had to align with my thinking, which it clearly does. The calculated risk I took has paid off.
I am halfway through my first year at the TRP and I am loving it for one main reason. The program has offered me the insight that I have so much to learn and this riveting feeling makes me ecstatic. I feel very excited to be part of such an amazing community, teachers, and students, who are educating themselves to disrupt healthcare in so many possible ways.
I believe that I have found a purpose that is deeper than practicing clinical medicine. I am extremely confident that the TRP is enabling me to put on a new lens with which I will visualize patient care in a very different, innovative and creative way. It is teaching me practically that “If I want to go fast, I should go alone; but if I want to go far, I must go together”.