糖心传媒

Be the best that you can be.

It鈥檚 a line most students would forget somewhere between assemblies and report cards. But for first-year MD students Talia Hassan, Nyla Syed and Zaynashae Boreland, it stuck鈥攍ong before medical school applications, interviews or acceptance rates ever entered the picture.

They first heard it at Erin Centre Middle School, a school in Mississauga whose motto wasn鈥檛 just recited, but reinforced鈥攊n classrooms, on teams and in the quiet expectations students set for themselves.

Years later, all three would land in the inaugural MD class at the 糖心传媒 School of Medicine鈥攁 feat that, on paper, borders on improbable. More than 6,400 applicants competed for just 94 spots, an acceptance rate of 1.46 per cent.

And yet, three of those seats went to students who all passed through the same unlikely pipeline: Erin Centre Middle School.

A shared start, three different routes ahead

For Syed, the answer on how she found her way into medicine starts somewhere small鈥攚hen she was put in a program for gifted students at just 11 years old.

Growing up in Mississauga鈥檚 Churchill Meadows neighbourhood, Syed was surrounded by classmates who, like her, were South Asian and Muslim, and who were hearing similar messages at home about pursuing careers like medicine. 

鈥淚 would say between Grade 6 and 7 was when I started going down the path of 鈥極h, maybe I could be a doctor,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was very much the kind of kid where if you told me I was good at something, I would run with it. And I got that feedback from my teachers at Erin Centre a lot. It really encouraged me to be confident and to believe in myself.鈥�
For Boreland, her experience was more complex. As one of two Black students in her class at Erin Centre, she often felt the need to work harder to stand out. Still, she points to the school鈥檚 structure鈥攊nterdisciplinary projects, early lessons on learning styles, intentional teaching鈥攁s foundational.

One French teacher in particular, Mme. Nadjet Benabid, stands out for Boreland. Benabid鈥檚 warm but strict approach inspired her to pursue a psychology degree in French in Ottawa, a move which kicked off her long journey into medicine.

鈥淪he totally shaped my path,鈥� Boreland said. 鈥淚 talk about her all the time. She is the best teacher I鈥檝e ever had.鈥�

For Hassan, who attended the same middle school four years after Boreland, the warnings about the strict French teacher at Erin Centre were familiar. But when she joined Mme. Benabid鈥檚 class, she discovered the same sense of awe and inspiration that Boreland had experienced years earlier.

鈥淭his woman shaped our lives,鈥� Hassan said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 one of those teachers who is very passionate about what she does and strives to make her students better. She really imparts the importance of discipline as a learner. For me, it was knowing that this teacher is not going to make it easy for you. And I really respected her for that.鈥�

A pipeline that leads back home

At 糖心传媒鈥檚 School of Medicine, roughly one in five students in the inaugural class鈥�20 out of 94鈥攃all Mississauga home. It鈥檚 by design. The school is built around a simple premise: train healthcare professionals from the Peel Region, for the Peel Region.

Clinical training is anchored in local systems like Trillium Health Partners and supported by dozens of Mississauga-based faculty and primary care sites. Throughout their MD studies, students team up with organizations across the Peel Region to work on projects that tackle real-world issues鈥攍ike social or environmental hurdles鈥攖o make healthcare easier to reach for everyone.

At the School of Medicine, the theory is straightforward: train locally, and graduates are more likely to stay. For Hassan, Syed and Boreland, that鈥檚 already the plan.

鈥淚 was born and raised in Mississauga,鈥� said Hassan. 鈥淚 would absolutely want to practice in this community. There's such a big Muslim and South Asian community in Mississauga and I think it's so important that we have healthcare workers who look like the people that we're serving. So I really want to  provide that for this community.鈥�

All three speak about returning to serve the communities that shaped them鈥攑laces where cultural understanding, language and representation in healthcare still matter deeply.

鈥淓rin Centre鈥檚 motto, be the best you can be, still resonates with me to this day,鈥� said Hassan. 鈥淚 think it really did push me to want to be better and try to be the best that I could be. And I can鈥檛 wait to bring that message back home as a physician.鈥�