Join us for an inspiring and informative one-hour webinar featuring three medical students from diverse backgrounds who each took a unique path to medical school. This session offers an honest look at the journeys that led them there, highlighting the challenges, detours, and fulfilling moments that shaped their decisions along the way.
Each speaker will share their personal journey, offering insight into different academic routes, life experiences, and obstacles they overcame to pursue a career in medicine. Beyond admissions, they’ll also dive into the realities of medical school: what it’s really like day-to-day, common misconceptions, workload expectations, and how they balance academics with personal life.
What you’ll gain:
- Real stories from students with different paths to medicine
- Insight into medical school life and expectations
- Tips for navigating your own journey
- Answers to your questions during a live Q&A
Don’t miss this chance to learn what it truly takes—and what it truly feels like—to pursue a career in medicine.
Our Pannelists;
Megan Roth: Megan is a third-year medical student at Queen’s University  with a strong interest in internal medicine and aspirations to pursue a gastroenterology fellowship. Her research focuses on optimizing decision-making in colorectal cancer surgical management, young adult inflammatory bowel disease, and undergraduate medical education, with a particular emphasis on integrative and interdisciplinary simulation experiences and patient safety.
Prior to medical school, Megan worked as a registered nurse in pediatrics, gaining extensive clinical experience at SickKids in Toronto on the multi-organ transplant floor and later at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver in the pediatric intensive care unit. She currently continues her clinical work casually as a RN at Millhaven Maximum Security Correctional Institution, where she contributes to care within the regional treatment centre.
Megan holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and previously completed a Bachelor of Medical Science in Physiology at Western University.
Mary Arakelyan: Arakelyan is a first year medical student at Queen’s University with a passion for research and mentorship. Prior to joining the Class of 2029, Mary worked as a research project manager at Dartmouth Health Children’s with a focus on pediatric health services research. Her academic background includes a BSc from UBC ’20 and a MPH from Dartmouth College (USA) ’21.
Rebecca Lee: Rebecca is a final year medical student at the University of Limerick, in Ireland. She studied at Queen’s University and UBC and worked in cancer research, auditing, and health research funding coordination prior to commencing medical school. 
Rowan Leach: Rowan is a first year medical student at Queen’s University with a multidisciplinary background spanning engineering, the military, and the arts. He holds a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Royal Military College of Canada and has served for over a decade as a combat engineer officer in the Canadian Army, including operational deployments and project management work with NATO. He is also a PMP-certified project manager.
