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Rebecca Coryell Agbayani ’19 said that her interview for the Physician Assistant Studies program was a big part of why she chose Shenandoah. During the process, Agbayani says she got “to meet current students who all seemed to be enjoying the program and felt confident about how it was preparing them to serve their future patients and communities.” She also liked that Winchester was set in the perfect location, situated an hour and a half outside of Washington, D.C., only 30 minutes from the Appalachian Trail and is in the heart of Virginia wine country.

The fondest memories Agbayani has of her time at the university are spending time with her classmates outside of class. They would go hiking, take their dogs to the park and go out to eat. She also enjoyed traveling to different places during her clinical rotations.

Agbayani is a physician assistant (PA-C) for . In this position, she works with healthcare providers to treat primary care/family medicine patients of all ages in Winchester, Virginia, and the surrounding area. She has also worked as a PA-C in the urgent care setting.

The most rewarding part of Agbayani’s career is the aha moment her patients have when they understand what’s happening in their bodies. She also finds it rewarding to watch her patients take ownership of their physical and mental health, which leads them to live a happier and healthier life.

Agbayani’s Shenandoah education has prepared her to hit the ground running as a PA-C and showed her where to find the resources she needs to learn more. “I also have to hugely credit my clinical preceptors for preparing me to be the best provider I can be today,” said Agbayani.

Agbayani’s advice to students is: “1. Take advantage of every opportunity you get to shadow or see or help someone in a new or different specialty or doing something you’ve never seen or heard of before. Once you get into your career, you won’t have as much flexibility or access to opportunities outside of your specialty. 2. Start establishing work-life balance now. You can always adjust along the way, there will be times where one has to give a lot of leeway to the other, but there needs to be a balance.”