This award means so much to me, and I want to start by thanking those who nominated me, and the selection committee. My childhood dream was always to be a doctor. To me, being a doctor meant staring death and disease in the eye and finally having the tools to fight back. I began my medical education in Kurdistan, Iraq, where I received my medical degree at the University of Salaheddin in 1986. I went on to pursue residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology and received my Diploma in 1995 at the University of Baghdad in Iraq. Due to an ongoing genocide and war in my country, I was forced to flee and immigrated to Canada as a refugee. In Canada, I received my CCFP through the University of Saskatchewan in 2002. In 2013, I received my FCFP from the Canadian College of Family Physicians.

Life in Canada was difficult. I was a single mother, and was forced to adapt to a new culture, lifestyle, and way of life. Here, however, I was able to reclaim my freedom, away from the terrors of war, and become my own person. I built a group of precious friends and colleagues and started my practice at the Regina Community Clinic after receiving my CCFP in 2002. I have practiced at the Clinic ever since, alongside a team of talented and kind-hearted physicians, staff, and nurses. In 2019, I began a practice at the Chronic Pain Clinic, where I deal with sensitive patient populations who deal with chronic pain and opioid use disorder. I received training and certification to use neuromodulators for treating migraine headaches and TMJ dysfunction. This work challenges me to open my heart and mind to the suffering of my patients as I do my best to find remedies for their pain or addictions.

My parents were teachers, and now I follow in their footsteps by vigorously engaging with educating the new generation of physicians. In 2006-2013 I was appointed Clinical Assistant Professor by the University of Saskatchewan and began teaching residents and then medical students. In 2015, I was promoted to Associate Professor, and have taught hundreds of students and residents. I primarily teach clinical skills, advanced communication skills, and general medicine while addressing competencies related to more niche patient populations, like immigrants and patients with chronic pain. I am actively involved in both undergraduate, and postgraduate medical education, spending almost every week with students.

Given my own history as a refugee, a woman, and a person of colour, a considerable part of my practice interacts with immigrants, women, refugees, and people of colour. At the Regina Community Clinic, I am the physician lead for the Refugee Health Committee. I frequently give refugee health lectures to family medicine and psychiatry residents. As well, I have both published research on and supervised graduate thesis on immigrant and refugee health. I am a SIPPA assessor and evaluator, where I introduce International Medical Graduates to the Canadian health care system, and assessing their competency to practice in Canada. I was also a consultant at planned parenthood in 2008, where I was able to make a difference in many women’s lives. As a volunteer, I also put every Saturday between 2010 and 2013 at the SEARCH program as a mentor for medical, pharmacy, and social work students to help better the lives of the people in the North Central Community and my students.

If my headstone is comprised of 4 things when I pass, I hope it says, kind person, good doctor, good teacher, and good mother. My dedication to these 4 things are a core part of my identity, and they have given me a place on this earth. While the work we do may not be remembered in perpetuity, I would not have spent my life doing anything other than what I do now.